Night of the Black Sun
by Falneou17
Summary: Right after the fall of Guile, an old evil organization rises once more, more powerful than ever! Red goes missing, and a newcomer takes his place to help out the dex holders! Who exactly is this newcomer? What is the secret behind the enemy's power? And can they be defeated? Rated for possible darker theme in later chapters. [Discontinued]
1. Enter the Mysterious Powerhouse Trainer!

**Alright, first things first: happy birthday Red! We're officially same-birthday buddies! No, seriously, we are…! Anyway, moving on, the idea of this story has been in the back of my mind for a long time now, but I haven't really gotten the chance to write it down until, well, now basically. I am now because I have gotten comfortable writing fanfictions by now, gotten a bit more established here on ff and have gotten more used to how this site works.**

 **Setting: a few weeks after the Emerald Battle Frontier fiasco. Sinnoh Pokémon will come out in this story, and everything before Sinnoh. As far as Pokédex Holders go, however, only up to Emerald will appear; sorry Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos lovers! Wally and Lyra/Kotone/Soul may or may not appear depending on the flow of the story, but I didn't plan them in so be prepared for the latter. Oh yeah, before I forget, all characters will have the same clothes that they were wearing in the Emerald chapter unless the clothing are described. OCs** ** _will_** **appear, partly as a way to make up for the other characters who do not but also because they will play a role that the others can't. Ok! Enough spoilers for one day!**

 **Inspiration mainly coming from several fanarts I've seen lingering on the web, but since there are quite a few, I can't really give credit to each and every last one of them. So here is a special thank you to all the fanarts that have given me some inspiration for this story!**

 **Picture source:** **plus4chan boards / pkmn / src / 127473448366 . jpg**

 **Disclaimer: if you've read my other stories, you should already know, but in case you haven't, I don't really own anything but the plot and the OCs here…**

* * *

 **-= Red's POV =-**

 _The lush green Viridian Forest in front of me, the remains of the Viridian Gym behind me; I was trapped like a Rattata with nowhere to run. I looked at my clothes and arms, seeing that they're torn and dyed red of my blood. A stinging pain and my legs gave way, forcing me on my knees. I made myself look up, seeing a tall man in what seemed to be his thirties, wearing a black suit with a blood red 'R' on his left breast pocket. Giovanni, the leader of the evil Team Rocket organization._

 _I gritted my teeth, recalling everything he had said. Everything that Team Rocket had done from genetically modifying Vee and scarring poor Gyara to releasing overly powerful Pokémon in the Viridian Forest which scared the citizens of Viridian. The lower members had all paid with the destruction of their headquarters in Saffron, but now… now I'm face to face with the boss, and if I had to go down, then he would go down with me!_

 _I noticed something small bouncing its way to me from above the rubble. It appeared to be a Pokéball and I barely managed to catch it. Looking through the transparent red top of the ball, I saw that it was Pika. To my surprise, unlike the balls of Gyara and Saur, Pika's was not broken, and I grinned, despite the pain coursing through my body._

 _"_ _Good job Pika! Let's end this!" I complimented him softly so Giovanni couldn't hear me. Gathering all the strength I had left, I got on my feet, trembling and panting heavily. I gripped Pika's Pokéball tighter and glared at the man in front of me, "GIOVANNI! This isn't a battle against a Gym Leader anymore! This is a fight against Team Rocket, and I won't lose! No matter what… I won't lose!"_

 _"_ _You're persistent, I give you that much Red," Giovanni said while chuckling. Somehow, seeing him so relaxed only made my blood boil even more. My knuckles had turned white from the force I was using to hold Pika, and the two of us had begun to move in a perfect circle, eyes never leaving the other, "But it's useless. I'm not called Giovanni of the Earth for nothing Red! Your electric mouse won't stand a chance against my ground army. Nidoqueen, prove it and impale him! Poison Sting!"_

 _Giovanni threw a Pokéball in the air, opening a few meters in front of him. Out of the blinding light a bipedal, sturdy Pokémon appeared. Her hard, blue scales covered it from head to toe and from her head protruded a short yet sharp and powerful horn. I didn't have time to think, only to throw Pika's Pokéball in front of me. My electric mouse appeared from the light and I snapped my fingers in the air._

 _"_ _THUNDER!"_

 _The very air crackled with electricity, as Pika's small body was completely enveloped by a huge ball of static energy. A second later and Pika unleashed the whole fury of the attack straight at Giovanni's Nidoqueen. The hit connected, and a huge flash of bright energy followed, forcing me to cover my eyes. When I opened them again, a crater around Nidoqueen had formed, smoldering and smoking from the blast. But amidst all that destruction, Nidoqueen seemed unfazed by the attack, as if it never connected._

 _"_ _H-How…"_

 _"_ _I told you Red," Giovanni sighed, walking up to his Nidoqueen and placing a hand on her shoulder, "An electric type doesn't stand a chance against a ground type. Face it, you've lost. Nidoqueen, finish off that rodent!"_

 _A wave of horror flooded my entire being as I saw Nidoqueen using her tail to leap high into the air. If I wasn't in a battle of my life right now, I'd be amazed at Nidoqueen's twenty meter high jump. At the top of the jump, Nidoqueen began spinning, and like a bullet, darted straight for Pika._

The intense ringing of my alarm pierced the quiet night like a knife through warm butter. I jolted up, panting and sweating heavily. It took forever for me to calm myself down.

"Just… Just a dream…"

Even so, it was never that detailed. It was more like a nightmare than a dream, but it kept me wondering. I defeated Giovanni when I was eleven and again earlier this year! So why was I dreaming of me in a losing battle against him?

I tried to wipe away the sweat that was rolling down my forehead, failing miserably due to my hand being completely outnumbered by the droplets. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw it was eleven forty-seven. Not panting as heavily, I grabbed the glass on my nightstand, got out of bed, filled it up and drank it all in one go. It was then that I noticed my phone ringing. Frustrated at being called so late in the night, I picked it up.

"You know what time it is? This better be good or el—"

 _"_ _It's good to hear you too, Red."_

I nearly dropped my phone at the sound of his voice. Fear like never before crept up my spine and overpowered every single cell in my body. I gulped, steadying my breathing.

"H-How? You were beaten! I defeated you! Twice!"

 _"_ _I was down, yes, but I was never out."_

"The deal's off and you know that!" I began yelling, anger had begun to overflow me as well. How did he even get my phone number to begin with? I shook that thought out of my head for the time being, "I beat you all the way back then, so you can't just come calling me out of nowhere now, lest so in the middle of the night!"

 _"_ _Oh, but I'm not calling you for_ that _Red"_

"Then… why…?" If he didn't call me to try and persuade me into—

 _"_ _I'm calling you to persuade you to join me."_

Okay, scratch that thought. My blood began boiling again and I needed a few breaths just to prevent my voice from trembling, "You know I won't join you, so don't waste both of our time. Give it up Giovanni!"

 _"_ _On the contrary, Red, I have something that might actually persuade you to join me after all."_

"Sure you do, and my name is—"

 _"_ _Red? RED!"_

I froze. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. Two questions directly popped up in my head: 'Why involve her?' and 'Is she alright?'

 _"_ _So what'll it be Red?"_

"You snake!" I hissed, trying to convey how angry I was at him. Doubt it'll work, but who knows? Worth a shot right? "Too scared to face me like a man so you went on and kidnapped someone to bait me out?"

 _"_ _Clever boy, but you're mistaken with two things. One, I'm not baiting you, I'm offering a trade: her safety for your membership. And two, I'm not afraid of you Red. You're the one who's afraid of what I'll do to her if you're not here in an hour!"_

A moment of silence followed. There was no way I was joining Team Rocket, but then, if I didn't… I clenched my fists, barely aware at how my nails dug deep in the flesh of my palms. She didn't deserve to get hurt because of me. There was only one thing left to do…

"… F… Fine… Where?"

 _"_ _I'm disappointed in you… surely the great Red from Pallet Town would have tried to fight his way out of this problem now wouldn't he?"_

"Just… tell me… where you are…" I hissed through gritted teeth. Was it really this difficult to talk to him? My mind wandered to a certain red head trainer from the Johto region, but who was born in Viridian also, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him that he had a father like this…

 _"_ _Meet me in the forest bordering Viridian City's western borders. You better come here fast and without your Pokémon or I can't guarantee anyone's safety."_

"Don't you dare hu—"

But the line was dropped before I could finish my threat. I threw my phone at the wall in anger and watched as it broke in a million tiny little pieces. I sighed, calming down, before reluctantly getting dressed. I left my Pokéballs on my nightstand, but couldn't help but crouch down to eye level to talk to them one more time.

"I'll be gone for a little while, and no, I don't know when I'll be back, but I know I can't bring you guys with me," I muttered to my Pokémon through the Pokéballs. I bit the inside of my cheek. Hard. The pain snapped me out of my daze, "I'd leave you in the care of someone else, but seeing as it is this late, I doubt anyone would be happy to see me at their front door right now. Take care guys!"

With that, I stood up and, hands still balled into fists, left my house, making sure that I locked every door and closed every window. A cool yet gentle breeze invited me to the open. I sighed, before looking up. Despite the circumstances, I still smiled seeing the sky. Green was right about today, the full lunar eclipse was beautiful. I found myself gazing up at it for who knows how long. After a while, I reluctantly tore my gaze from the moon and started walking towards Viridian. Only one thought repeated throughout my mind over and over again.

 _I'm coming for you, and you're going to pay Giovanni!_

* * *

 **-= 3** **rd** **Person POV =-**

Two weeks have passed since the night of the lunar eclipse, and Pallet Town has prospered so much it would be hardly recognizable from what it used to be only a decade ago. Today, however, it was nice and quiet, the sky being of a clear yet deep blue color and hardly any white, cotton-like clouds were visible anywhere. That is when a lone figure hanging onto a midnight blue, almost black bird, which people would wonder how it could support its trainer's weight, appeared into view. The bird's eyes were as red as the hair of the boy he was carrying.

The two descended in front of the biggest building in the area, the lab of the renowned Professor Oak. Letting go of the bird's talons, the boy thanked it before returning it to the Pokéball. Dusting off his shirt, the red head walked into the building after knocking on the door.

"Ha! Told you he's late, so YOU pay up!"

"Gold, for the one hundredth and twenty third time… Silver was the first one here. I asked him to go and look for the two that _are_ late. That reminds me Silver, any luck?"

"Sorry, no, I couldn't find either of them…"

"Maybe they finally got the balls to confess and are now on a date~"

"Senior Blue, with all due respect, I don't think now's the time for matchmaking."

"For once I agree with Prissy Boy here, let those two seniors go at their own pace, they'll get there eventually."

"Just like you two? Just get a room already!"

"Alright, THAT'S IT!"

Over the cacophony of noises and conversations between the young trainers, one person stood there, arms crossed and eyes closed in irritation. Silver couldn't really blame him, as he was starting to get a headache himself. Looking around, he saw his fellow Pokédex holders: his senior Green who quieted the room earlier, his 'older sister' Blue, his fellow Johto peers Gold and Crystal and his _very loud_ Hoenn juniors Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. It was lucky, or perhaps not, that those three were visiting the Kanto region when they were all called upon to meet up this day.

"Since we can't find those two, we'll just start without them," Green said irritated. The air suddenly tensed up, some people visibly moved a bit away from the brunet and many gulped, "I doubt anyone here knows why you're here right?"

Everybody but Green and Crystal shook their head with a blank expression. Green sighed before he continued, "Alright… guess I have to fill you guys in then…"

"Wait!" everybody turned to the source of the sound, seeing the amber eyed boy from New Bark Town in the Johto region, "Senior Red and Straw Hat Gal aren't here yet, so shouldn't we wait for them? And where the hell is the old man anyway?"

"Watch your mouth Gold!" Crystal scolded, smacking him on the back of his head. This, of course, resulted in a yelp of pain from the boy. Putting both her hands on her hips, the navy haired pigtailed girl glared at the slightly taller boy, " _Professor Oak_ is a busy man and he'll be here soon. And show some respect to _Senior Yellow_! She's over a year older than you for crying out loud!"

"And Gold… that's my _grandfather_ you're disrespecting there," the extreme calmness in Green's voice was so scary that even Silver backed away from him. A few moments of silence before Green, sighing once more, got started, "I don't know where Red _or_ Yellow are, and quite frankly I couldn't care less, but we need them here. While waiting for them I'll fill you guys in on what's been happening recently. Lately, there have bee—"

Green was interrupted with the door being opened. With their attention divided, the eight teenagers turned to the door opening, only to see a lone boy entering the lab. About the same height as Green, his jet black hair was long enough to reach his shoulders, some bangs covering his forehead and framing his face, all the way down to his jaw. Wearing a dark green jacket and black pants, Silver could feel an air of confidence and strength being emanated from him.

"So this is the lab of the great Professor Oak from Pallet Town… not bad, not bad at all," the boy said to himself, obviously impressed by the lab. He didn't seem to notice the trainers in the room before he was only a few meters away from them, "Oh, is this a private party? If it is, I'll be coming back later to meet the professor."

"Who are you and why are you here?" Green demanded, stepping forward. The other Pokédex holders took a defensive stance as well, lining up on either side of Green, Pokéballs in their hands, "You have no right to just barge in here uninvited! Answer me!"

"Hey hey, calm down there," the boy held up both hands to try and calm down the other trainers but was only mildly successful, if at all, "You know, where I come from, you're only allowed to ask those kind of things after you've introduced yourself. You want that information from me, you're going to have to give the same information _to_ me."

"Fine…" Green huffed, getting a few surprised stares from others, including Blue, "My name is Green Oak. I'm—"

"Professor Oak's grandson, a Pokédex Holder, runner up to the ninth Pokémon League tournament held at the Indigo Plateau and the Viridian City Gym Leader," the mystery boy interrupted, getting several perplexed looks from the people across him. He smiled, "Am I right? If so, is it safe to assume that all of you are Pokédex Holders as well?"

"If you already knew…" Green's eye twitched in anger. Blue backed away three steps, knowing full well how dangerous Green can be when angered enough, "Then why would you need to ask… you know what? Forget it. You already know who we are, so tell us who you are. I'll need to forcefully show you the way out if you don't."

"Whoa, hold your Ponytas there, finalist. It's true I knew about Green Oak and the Pokédex Holders," the boy laughed, putting both his hands in his pockets, "It's also true that I didn't know that Green Oak was _you_ until just a few moments ago. I'm only here to meet your grandpa, nothing more nothing less. So where is he?"

"You know what? You're starting to get on my nerves! Are you a trainer?" Gold suddenly exclaimed loudly. The newcomer was surprised at his outburst at first but nodded all the same, "Then we'll battle! We win, you go. You win, we'll help you out. How about it, tough guy? Feel strong enough?"

"Gold…" Crystal warned, but said boy ignored her warning completely.

"Fine with me, on two conditions," the boy shrugged, taking out a Dive Ball and a Luxury Ball from his belt, "I only fight one of you one-on-one. Otherwise, I'll force my way through."

The Pokédex Holders huddled together to discuss the recent events and to try and figure out a strategy to defeat him.

"I'm NOT going to battle ANYONE!" Ruby exclaimed frantically, not getting any surprised responses from anyone, "My Pokémon's fur will get dirty and I _just_ groomed them!"

"Stop being such a sissy, sissy!" Sapphire punched Ruby in the face, causing the boy to fly through the room a few meters. Turning back to the group, the brunette grinned, "I can take him! I'll fight him seniors!"

"What if he has a Salamance, huh?" Emerald pointed out, causing Sapphire to shudder at the memory, "Then what? Oh, I know, you'll lose the battle almost by default, just like last time! Let me fight him. You just go and get a room with sissy pants there."

"Guys guys," Gold intervened before the argument could turn into a fight amongst the fellow trainers, "Stop fighting. I challenged him so _I_ will fight him. And you better believe that I'm going to win!"

"Stop being so cocky Gold," Crystal pulled Gold back down from the table and slapped him across the face for good measures, "We don't know how strong that guy is, _or_ which Pokémon he has! With Senior Red not here, Senior Green is our best bet of beating him."

"I second that," Blue joined in, looking more serious than ever, "Even that old hag of a Brinca said that Red and Green are equal in strength! Sure she might not be perfectly sane, but she did have a point! Green is strong, and I'm sure you can all agree that Green is the strongest one here right now so _he_ should take a crack at him!"

"I won't hold back if he threatens anyone here, but I didn't come here to battle anyone," Silver stated, looking at the black head who was busy polishing his Pokéballs. Repressing the urge to shiver, he turned back to the group, "Green, I guess we're all counting on you."

"Alright then…" Green gave in, knowing that they needed the newcomer out of the lab as soon as possible. He stood up and walked to the waiting trainer, with the other Pokédex Holders following behind, "You're battling me. Follow me."

"This should be interesting." the boy muttered amusedly. He grabbed his Pokéballs, stood up and followed the Pokédex Holders.

They exited the lab and walked outside. After a minute or so of walking, the group of nine had reached an open space where the two trainers could battle it out. A clearing with trees surrounding it, the younger Pokédex Holders were surprised to see that the area was tiled.

"I'm not going easy on you!" Green announced while he grabbed his Pokéball of choice before throwing it in the air, "Charizard!"

In a bright flash of light, a reddish orange dragon emerged. His wide wings were both strong yet graceful and a strong red and orange flame was ignited on the end of his tail. Charizard let out a deafening roar the moment he landed on the ground.

"Charizard eh? Nice choice…" Green's opponent chuckled, before he enlarged his Dive Ball he was holding. Smiling at it, he glanced at the brunet on the other side, "Alright, Lapereo, you're up!"

The Dive Ball soared through the sky before it opened and revealed a plesiosaur-like creature with a hard, grey shell on its back. It made a huge thud when it landed on the ground, before turning its head to the fire starter across from it. No Pokédex was needed to identify the Lapras.

"This is bad," Ruby muttered from the sidelines. All of them knew why, so his explanation that followed was almost pointless, "That thing got quite a good type advantage against Senior Green's Charizard!"

"We know that fashion lad," Gold said, ignoring the comments in reply to his nickname from said boy, "But Green should be just fine. Even senior Red has trouble beating that guy!"

"Charizard! Roast that thing with Fire Blast!" Green commanded, taking the first move of the battle.

Charizard roared while the flame on his tail grew brighter and bigger. A second of silence and a red-hot fireball erupted from Charizard's mouth. The fireball changed shape to look like a fiery starfish and went straight for Lapras.

"Fire Blast, eh? Interesting opening move," the newcomer muttered to himself while grinning. He then looked up and made a command of his own, "Alright Lapereo, Hydro Pump! Gamma Four!"

"What?" Blue yelled loud enough for everybody in the area to hear.

Lapras opened its mouth wide and a high pressured stream of water came from its mouth. What shocked everybody but Lapras' trainer was that Lapras had aimed the Hydro Pump straight on the ground. The water bounced off the area, creating a barrier which doused the Fire Blast without much effort, leaving Lapras without a single wound.

"Using an offensive move in a defensive way like that," Green began, slightly dumbfounded how Charizard's Fire Blast was so easily beaten, "I admit I'm impressed."

"The great and proud Green Oak is actually complimenting me!" the newcomer laughed while holding his sides to try and hold back his laughter, "You know, if you weren't battling with me right now I'd probably had recorded it to show the people back home!"

"This guy is good," Silver commented, his eyes never once leaving the battlefield. His comment resulted in a few stares causing him to shuffle slightly, uncomfortable with the attention he was getting, "Even though he has the advantage, he's playing it safe and keeping watch to see what his opponent can do. Lapras are also known to be more defensive than offensive anyway, and he trained his very well. Also, the power of that Hydro Pump… I've never seen any Water type attack like it… It's on par with the power of my Hydro Cannon! Green has a tough battle ahead of him…"

'This guy can use Hydro Pump to defend, so any Fire type move is useless.' Green thought to himself, trying to find a way to defeat the Water/Ice type Pokémon in front of him. 'That means I have to get in close if I want to deal any damage, but that could give him the chance to attack me from close up, thus dealing a lot of damage as well. This guy is real good, with just one move he has cornered me this much… Red… what would you do in this situation…?'

"It really takes this much to push you to your limits?" Lapras' trainer taunted, "I'm truly disappointed… if I had known that I would have defeated you faster."

"Who says I'm at my limits?" Green shouted back, only to get a grin in response. Angered, Green turned to his fiery dragon-like Pokémon, "Charizard! Get in there and use Steel Wing!"

Charizard's wings turned a bright white as he took to the skies. With a loud roar, he started to head straight for Lapras.

"Alright Lapereo, let's go with Ice Beam! Delta Eight!"

Lapras faced straight up and opened his mouth. A ball of bluish white light appeared as Lapras shot the Ice Beam straight into the air. At about thirty meters high, the Ice Beam diverged and created arrows of ice that rained down in a dome like formation around Lapras, creating a semi barrier that stopped Charizard in his tracks.

"Not just Hydro Pump but also Ice Beam in a defensive way like that?" Sapphire exclaimed, more surprised than ever, "Man… if this battle's over, he'd better teach _me_ a thing or two!"

"This battle has lasted long enough!" Green said angrily, pointing straight at Lapras, "Charizard! End this with Blast Burn!"

Numerous gasps from the audience, as Charizard's tail flame almost exploded due to the power surge. Opening his mouth as wide as it could, the beast let loose a stream of all powerful, bluish white flames that headed straight for Lapras. Unlike the Fire Blast from earlier, the Blast Burn attack remained in a stream, but it was so hot it actually melted the tiles under it. This time, however, not only didn't Lapras move, but his trainer made no move or command.

The inferno exploded upon reaching Lapras, and thick smoke was still going into the open air the moment everybody turned back to the battlefield. Charizard came back down on the ground, exhausted but still standing. Lapras was still obscured from view by the smoke.

"A big risk, but a risk that was well worth it in the end," Green smirked, slightly panting. It was quiet from everybody else, too shocked to respond, "This battle is over!"

"For once, I agree with you… this battle _is_ over." The newcomer said, head down. He then looked up and Green was shocked that he was grinning, "But it isn't over for _me_! Lapereo!"

Lapras' cry sounded loud and clear, and the smoke started to clear. Green's eyes widened as he saw a light green, almost transparent bubble around Lapras. Said Pokémon was unharmed.

"Pro…tect…" Green said lifelessly, "Your Lapras… knows Protect…?"

"You got that right!" Green's opponent exclaimed cheerfully as he pointed at Charizard, "Blast Burn is indeed powerful but forces the user to rest up after using it! That makes Charizard a sitting duck! Lapereo, now! Hydro Pump Alpha Seven!"

Lapras made a loud shriek as it opened its mouth for the third time. A high powered, high pressured stream of water was fired straight at Charizard. This Hydro Pump was nearly three times as powerful as the previous one.

"Quick! Use Protect!"

Something jumped in the line of the Hydro Pump and took the attack head on. When the water had subsided, it appeared to be a Wigglytuff. Green snapped his head to the crowd, where everybody was looking at one person.

"As you said, this battle is over… Green lost," Blue said calmly, walking up to the Wigglytuff and petting her head, "He lost the moment Blast Burn failed to defeat your Lapras, and as promised, we will help you out. But before that, couldn't you at least tell us who you are so we know how to call you?"

"Pesky woman…" Green muttered under his breath. By the time the other Pokédex Holders had reached the center of the battlefield, Green had returned his Charizard, "Thank you Charizard."

"Well, I guess that's only fair after all…" the newcomer shrugged, petting his Lapras for a job well done. He returned him back into his Dive Ball before returning back to the crowd in front of him, "I headed to Pallet Town because I was told that Professor Oak knew where to find what I was looking for."

"Senior Blue asked you who you were, so please don't dodge the question," Crystal stated politely yet sternly, "And what exactly are you looking for?"

"My name is Mirza," the newcomer, Mirza, stated. His rather confident and relaxed demeanor from before disappeared like snow in the sun, replaced with an air of seriousness and urgency, "And I'm looking for the Guardian of the Viridian Forest."

* * *

 **Alright, that is everything for now. I know I'm leaving you hanging with a cliffhanger (third one today!), but that will only give you more reason to get back to my story again next time right? Anyway, Mirza is my OC who is loosely based, both in appearance and behavior, by several** ** _other_** **characters from other franchises I like. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? Who or what is this so called "Guardian of the Viridian Forest"? Why is he looking for this "Guardian of the Viridian Forest"? How is Mirza so powerful that he beat Green without breaking a sweat? What is his history? What are his other Pokémon? What happened to Red? And to Yellow for that matter? Will I ever stop asking questions? Who knows anymore these days?**

 **If everything goes well, the next chapter should be up in between one or two weeks. I know it is at a slightly slower pace than my other stories but for one,** **Crimson Sunlight** **is based on an already established product, and two, I'm just super stoked for this one and want to put in a lot of effort into it. Not that I don't put any effort in the others, it's just that I've been looking forward to writing this one down for so very long that I want it to be perfect (or at least as close to the definition of that word).**

 **Again, like all my others, feel free to favorite, follow and review this story; it really means a lot to me!**


	2. Revelations! Mirza's Purpose!

**Yay! Thanks for all the attention this story has gotten from the last chapter! Yeah… I'm being sarcastic, I know… and I guess I was putting my hopes a tad too high… What did I expect? For** **Night of the Black Sun** **to be as popular as** **Specialventure Academy** **right of the bat? Yeah, a guy can hope can't he? At least all my stories combined have received over 1k views this month! Sure, 702 are for** **Specialventure Academy** **and 242 are for** **Crimson Sunlight** **, but still! 217 of those pageviews happened on the day I updated all three stories on the same day! And a special shout out to all people in the US for racking up 532 views from said country! And to think that there is still over 10 days left this month…**

 **Anyway, with that aside, as I said earlier, I'm** ** _really_** **stoked for** **Night of the Black Sun** **! Much more so than both** **Crimson Sunlight** **and** **Specialventure Academy** **, both of which are getting neutral positive at worst reviews today! Can** **Night of the Black Sun** **get that treatment also? Please? Yeah… alright… moving on…**

 **Mirza knows the Pokédex holders right? So since the start will be in Mirza's POV, he already knows the identity of all the Pokédex holders. Just a heads up so I can skip over the introductions between the characters (are introductions important? Yes. Can they be skipped? Absolutely!). Not so much action, more of dialogues this chapter around. So get ready for a rather slow paced chapter. That will change next time though! That much I can already guarantee! Also, before I forget to mention (since I forgot to write so last chapter), Mirza is about one and a half year older than Blue, making him… almost 19 years old. Just to put it into perspective, so you can envision the setting better.**

 **Before we begin, a few words of gratitude are in order! Thanks to DreameEater for the fave, joycewu333 for the follow and Zexiroth15 for both! Now if only someone would review and it would be perfect…!**

 **Disclaimer: Other than Mirza and the plot? Nope, I don't own a thing, so don't bother asking!**

* * *

 **-= Mirza's POV =-**

"My name is Mirza," I announced, looking at the eight teenagers in front of me as seriously as I could. I really needed their help, so I should tell them what I'm looking for right? "And I'm looking for the Guardian of the Viridian Forest!"

"Guardian of the Viridian Forest?" Gold repeated. It was obvious that he wasn't the brains of the Pokédex holders. Oh well, at least I still have Green and Crystal for that role. I nodded, "Is there even such a thing as that? I mean, come on! If there was such a thing, shouldn't bad guys go after it and we know of it because we go and protect it?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… I think I actually agree with Gold," Crystal said hesitantly. Some shocked expressions came as a response, even from Gold himself. She quickly shook them off, however, as she turned to Green, "What do you think about it senior Green?"

"I say we go back to the lab first," Green decided, and I had to agree with him. About time I was invited there! "Gramps should know more about it. Besides, he was the one you originally came here for right?"

"Yes, he was," I admitted, as we had begun walking back to the lab, "I was directed to your grandfather when I asked about the Guardian of the Viridian Forest. It actually makes sense if you think about it. After all, your grandfather is the local professor here in Kanto and the Viridian Forest is in Kanto also."

"And who exactly directed you to Professor Oak?" Blue queried curiously.

"The Petalburg City Gym Leader, Norman, the regional professor of the Hoenn region, Professor Birch and my mentor and teacher, Steven Stone," I summed up, "They're the ones who told me to see Professor Oak of the Kanto region."

"You know my papa?" Sapphire blurted out, at the exact moment as Ruby yelled, "You've met my dad?"

"You two are related to them?" I asked, and the two of them nodded. I thought deeply, remembering the fact that Steven was still single and I recognized a similar vibe from Ruby as I did with Norman. I smiled, "Let me guess… Ruby's Norman's son while Sapphire's father is Professor Birch!"

Before anyone in our little group of nine could respond to my comment, a new, unfamiliar voice came from the direction of Professor Oak's lab, "Green! Everybody! Thank goodness you're alright… Next time could you please put a note or something somewhere so that I know that you kids are going outside?"

"Sorry gramps," Green muttered, as the other Pokédex holders were just laughing sheepishly. I just looked at the person Green just addressed as 'gramps'. He sure had a similar vibe as Professor Birch had, that was for sure. Only difference was that I was starting to get overwhelmed by his presence. That _never_ happened before! In the moment of silence, I found myself being pulled forward by Green, "We have someone you should meet, gramps. His name is—"

"Mirza!" Professor Oak interrupted. I could hear how excited he was. Everybody was shocked. I doubt anyone would have expected the old man to recognize me, but I had a feeling he would. After all, from what I heard, the regional professors were quite well acquainted and connected with one another, "I've been waiting for you! Thank you for coming! How are you?"

"It is an honor to finally meet you, professor," I bowed. I then remembered the things one of the professors entrusted me with, and took them out of my pocket. Professor Oak's face lit up as he saw the ten chips. The others… Had confused looks at best, "Professor Rowan entrusted me with these. He said it contained the necessary data you needed for the Pokédex update that you have been working on, professor."

"Thank you so much Mirza!" Professor Oak exclaimed, as he took the chips and started back to the lab. For an old man, he sure could walk! Some of us actually had to jog to prevent falling behind, "And you don't have to be so formal around here. Being polite is good, but you should loosen up a bit."

"My apologies, professor," I said, before I could stop myself. I laughed sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head, "Sorry, old habits die hard I s'ppose…"

"Mirza, tell the professor the reason why you came all the way here," Crystal encouraged. I sighed, but I knew she had a point there, "From what I can pick up, you've been on a long journey just to get here right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" I muttered. By then, we already had reached the professor's lab and most of us sat down on the chairs the Pokédex holders had prepared earlier. I turned to the professor, "Professor Oak? Other than bringing you those chips, I actually have another reason for coming here. Petalburg City's Gym Leader Norman, Hoenn's Pokémon League Champion Steven Stone and the regional professor of the Hoenn region Professor Birch have all directed me to you. I've been looking for the Guardian of the Viridian Forest for a while now, and they all said that you were the best person to ask. I know it is selfish of me to ask something like this right now, but do you have any information about it?"

"Yeah, Birch _did_ mention something like that…" Professor Oak trailed off as he scratched his head. So what? What mattered is the information! Professor Oak sighed, which I knew didn't mean anything good, "Unfortunately, other than Yellow and the fact that the Viridian Forest is located here in Kanto, I don't really know why they send you to me in the first place. I'm really sorry Mirza."

"I guess I shouldn't have expected much anyway," I sighed. I felt some people glare at me but I shrugged it off, "So who is this Yellow person anyway?"

"Yellow is a native to the Viridian Forest," Blue stated matter of factly. Everybody turned to face her as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "As a matter of fact, she is a _blessed child_ of the Viridian Forest and my best friend. If anybody would know anything about this Guardian of the Viridian Forest, I'm sure it's Yellow! She practically grew up there."

"Yellow is a Pokédex holder right?" I asked nobody in particular. Blue was the one who answered with a nod. I then asked the question that has been bothering me this whole time: "So where is she? And shouldn't there be ten of you? Even with Yellow, I only count nine. Where's the last guy?"

"Yellow and Red, they're both late," Green said, obviously annoyed. Wait… Red? I couldn't think much of it as Green continued, "They should have been here by now though. We had a Pokédex holders meeting today, and they were the only two who haven't come yet. You're lucky that you came today, and you're unlucky that you came when the people who could have helped you aren't even here."

A moment of silence followed, before Green turned to his grandfather, "Gramps, what was that Pokédex update Mirza was talking about just now?"

"Oh that?" Professor Oak smiled. He then took one chip and studied it closely. After a while, he turned back to all of us, "I have been getting reports that new Pokémon have been discovered, and my colleague in a faraway region known as the Sinnoh region, Professor Rowan, was kind enough to share his research with me. With these chips, I can upgrade all of your Pokédexes to store the information of the new Pokémon."

"Please _do_ note that I'm not as good at catching Pokémon as Crystal is," I added in, causing said girl to shuffle nervously, "The data is incomplete, but it should at least tell you the identity and types of the new Pokémon. Professor Rowan entrusted me with delivering these chips to Professor Oak's chosen children. This will upgrade the software of your Pokédexes to the next version. As a result, I'm actually quite up to date with you guys, including your names, age, hometown, Pokémon, strengths and weak points. Which would also explain why that battle just now was so one sided."

"Seriously?!" Gold blurted, though I doubt he was the only surprised one. Not like I could blame him, "So you're saying you were ready for any of us and any of our Pokémon?!"

"Pretty much," I shrugged. I then remembered all the battles I had fought in the past and shuddered. Just the thought of them was enough to send a chill up my spine, "Even if what I knew of you guys was wrong, or you had caught a new Pokémon, I'm still confident I could have beaten you one on one."

"And what makes you think that?!" Gold asked, angrily. I smirked. Of all the Pokédex holders, this guy would be the easiest if it was only for his temper, "Why are you so confident you could have beaten us, huh? For your information, we have beaten Team Rocket, the Mask of Ice, Team Magma and Aqua and even Guile Hideout! I don't recall you being there on the front lines with us!"

"Gold… Watch what you're saying…" Crystal tried to calm him down, to no avail. I actually found his outburst quite amusing, "You saw how easily Mirza defeated senior Green! You also don't know what other Pokémon he –"

"Looks to me like you want to take a crack at me," I interrupted, smiling. I don't know why, but I feel so fired up with these Pokédex holders. I could hear Emerald shuffling away from me nervously, but I ignored him, "Alright then, just like with Green, one on one. However, I won't hold back this time around!"

* * *

 **-= 3** **rd** **Person POV =-**

The atmosphere tensed considerably as Mirza and Gold had their stare off. Crystal and Blue tried to stop them, Green and Silver pretended they didn't notice the stare off while the others merely backed away, some more visibly terrified than the others.

"Senior Gold, I don't think you should go through with this…" Sapphire muttered, not loud enough to catch said amber eyed boy's attention though. It _did_ catch Ruby's attention. He gave her a questioning look, so she turned to him instead, "My papa told me a bit about a trainer who helps him. He is a powerful trainer who is almost completely undefeated!"

"And you think that trainer is Mirza?" Ruby asked. Sapphire nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. This caused the boy to go deep in thoughts, "That _would_ explain why he was so strong and how he easily beat senior Green. If Mirza is almost undefeated in Hoenn, senior Gold won't stand a chance against him! We know he met Steven and my dad, so it's likely he had a battle with them… If what your dad said is true, and the trainer he referred to _was_ Mirza… Then he might have beaten both dad and Steven!"

The Hoenn duo fell silent after that, trying to imagine how powerful Mirza truly was. Through all of the tension inside the lab, nobody noticed the knocking on the front door. Eventually, most likely tired of waiting around, the person outside burst into the lab.

"I'm sorry I'm so late! I mistook the date so I went fishing in the Viridian Forest and doze off and –" the girl in the door opening stopped abruptly as she saw what transpired inside the lab. She gulped, as she tried not to get overwhelmed by the tension. She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Um, everyone? I'm here…"

A moment of silence, until Blue turned around and saw the blonde by the door. She rushed over and trapped the shorter girl in a bone crushing hug, "Yellow~! Where have you been that you're so late?"

The tension disappeared almost instantly as everybody in the room turned to face the two girls near the entrance. Blue, having her back turned to them, was completely oblivious by all the stares she was getting. Yellow, on the other hand, was not so lucky. She tried to wiggle her way out of her best friend's embrace, with no success.

"I a-already told you," Yellow managed, already having difficulty breathing in her best friend's tight embrace. Silver, pitying the short blonde, pulled the two apart, resulting in a thankful smile from said girl and a pout from the older one, "I mistook the date and time. I actually thought it was tomorrow so I went fishing today and dozed off. When I woke up, I remembered the meeting was today and rushed off here and… Where's Red? And who is –?"

"About time you got here blondie~" Blue interrupted, scolding good heartedly while ruffling said blondie's hair. Yellow tried to slip away but failed miserably thanks to the older girl's iron grip, "I thought you were spending the day with our dear Red~ Oh well… No, we have no idea where he could be. Just like you, he's late. Unlike you, he's too chicken to show up like a man!"

"Blueeeeee!" Yellow's reply was flustered, as the taller brunette was laughing it off. The other Pokédex holders were either smiling because of Yellow's flustered response, or seemed annoyed because of her tardiness, "There is _nothing_ going on between Red and me! But… Who is that guy? I don't think I've seen him before…"

Yellow was, of course, referring to Mirza. The two of them were staring at each other for three solid minutes before Crystal sighed, silently volunteering herself to do the introductions for them, "Senior Yellow, this is Mirza. He came all the way from the Hoenn region to bring the necessary data for our Pokédexes to be updated. Mirza, this is the Yellow we were talking about just now."

"I-It's nice to meet you," Yellow smiled, holding out her hand. Mirza happily returned the handshake before Yellow remembered what her navy haired junior said, "Wait, you guys were talking about me? May I know about what?"

"Other than bringing the necessary data for Professor Oak to upgrade all of your Pokédexes, there is actually another reason why I am here," Mirza stated, more serious than ever. Yellow gulped uneasily, knowing that whatever he came here for not only involved her, but it was very important as well. Mirza took a deep breath before he continued, "I've heard quite a bit about the Pokédex holders from Hoenn's Professor Birch, and Professor Oak has confirmed it minutes ago. I won't go beating around the bush… I know you're from the Viridian Forest, so you're the best person to ask. I am looking for the Guardian of the Viridian Forest, do you know anything about it?"

"Guardian of the… Viridian Forest…?" Yellow repeated slowly. Mirza nodded, already fearing the worse after hearing her tone. The blonde healer took a moment or two to think about it, but then turned to the black head in front of her, "I'm sorry Mirza; I know you came a long way to get here, but I _really_ have no idea who or what this Guardian of the Viridian Forest is… I'm sorry."

"It's alright Yellow," Mirza sighed in defeat. He had really hoped to find out more about the Guardian of the Viridian Forest, but part of him had a feeling that even Yellow, who practically grew up there, wouldn't have the answers he needed, "At least my trip hasn't been completely in vain; you guys get a Pokédex upgrade, I met new allies and I'm physically closer to the Viridian Forest."

"That reminds me," Professor Oak suddenly came in, startling a few of the younger trainers who obviously forgot he was still there, "Why was Professor Rowan so adamant about the Pokédex upgrade anyway? And do you have a Pokédex yet? If not, I'll be glad to give you one; you more than deserve it for all of your help. Consider it a thank you gift from the other regional professors as well."

"Thanks, but I won't be needing one. As a matter of fact, I doubt a Pokédex would be helpful for me at this point," Mirza shrugged while laughing. He realized his tone a second too late so quickly added, "I mean, I've already memorized everything from the Pokédex databases that Professor Birch and Professor Rowan had, so I'm fine. Thank you for the offer though, professor."

"I heard you were a powerful trainer, but to find out that you are this knowledgeable and hardworking…" Professor Oak said in shock, basically talking for the entire group. After a short moment of silence, the old man continued, "Is there any way for me to thank you? Also in the name of all my colleagues. There should be _something_ I can do for you."

"Actually there is, and I don't think it's a big favor or anything…" Mirza trailed off, smiling. Seeing the expressions of some of the Pokédex holders, he couldn't help but laugh, "Sorry, your expressions… Anyway, all I want is for Yellow to help me search through the Viridian Forest to try and find the Guardian of the Viridian Forest…"

"I can do that," Yellow replied, smiling brightly, "It's as Professor Oak said: it's the least we can do for you. Besides, you seem like a nice person so I'll be glad to. You've actually made me curious as to who or what this Guardian is as well…"

"Thank you," Mirza said gratefully. He then turned back to the professor, "And I want the ten Pokédex holders to help me fight an evil organization that has been rising in power over the last few months…"

"You? Need _our_ help?!" Emerald asked in disbelief, right before anyone else could respond. Mirza simply nodded, causing the vertically challenged blonde boy to panic, "Not that I don't want to help you or anything, but you defeated one of the strongest Pokédex holders in just three moves! And I could tell you weren't even anywhere _near_ being serious! What can _we_ do to help _you_ beat that organization?!"

"If it were just continuous one on one battles, I'm confident I can face them and I wouldn't need any of your help," Mirza deadpanned, causing Green, Gold and Sapphire to glare at him. He either _pretended_ he didn't notice, or he _really_ didn't notice, "But I'm completely outnumbered, so whether I like it or not, I need your help to take them down. I really wouldn't be asking for help if I could take care of them myself, but their movements have already spread all the way to Kanto! If they're not stopped, they'll take over the entire world!"

"And the reason why that Professor Rowan wanted to give our Pokédexes an upgrade was because that organization is using Pokémon we've never seen before?" Crystal inquired, suddenly much more serious and interested than before. Mirza nodded in response, causing the Violet City native to turn to Green, "Is it possible that the organization Mirza is referring to is the same one that has caught the Gym Leaders' attention here in Kanto and Johto? If so, it would actually be a good idea for us to team up, as we have a common enemy. Senior Red isn't here, so we're missing one member anyway. And we _could_ use his fire power."

"WHAT?!" Mirza shouted, startling everybody in the room. He ignored all the looks he was getting while Ruby was ignoring the 'And you call _me_ loud' from Sapphire. Mirza had all of his attention on Green, "It probably is! Get your Pokédexes upgraded and we will have to go! Prepare yourself for a powerful adversary, as I doubt you've faced anything like him!"

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice now do we?" Green sighed, as he gave his Pokédex to his grandfather. The other trainers followed suit, though some were more hesitant to relinquish their Pokédex than others. Professor Oak took them and left the room, with Crystal following close behind saying that she's going to help him. Green turned back to Mirza, "We'll help you fight them, but you're going to have to tell us a bit about them. Scratch that thought. Tell us everything you know about them!"

"Wait, but what about the organization here in Kanto?" Gold interrupted loudly. Knowing that Crystal was gone, Silver sighed and slapped him across the head in her place, "Ow! What was that for you Ginger Emo?!"

"First of all, don't call me that!" said Ginger Emo seethed, as he proceeded to hit the amber eyed boy continuously and relentlessly, ignoring the yelps of pain and pleads from the victim. Only when the New Bark Town native was reduced to a pile of whimpers and wailing did Silver finally halt his attacks, "Second of all, haven't we already agreed that the two organizations are one and the same? You're going to have to learn to _listen_ Gold! As for you Mirza… I'm going to be honest here and say that I don't trust you completely. But if everybody else decided to follow you, then I'm in too. So what _do_ you know?"

"That's really reassuring," Mirza laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room. It had no effect. Sweatdropping, Mirza cleared his throat before he turned back to the other teens, "Truthfully, I don't really know _that_ much about them. They move silently and act mostly in the shadows, but they're as dangerous as Gold is annoying."

"Hey!" Gold shouted suddenly, but nobody even _looked_ in his general direction.

"They move in either pairs or groups of three, so more often than not, even pinpointing their location is a chore," Mirza continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "They usually only have one or two Pokémon on hand, but not only are they naturally powerful, they're high leveled too! They don't really have a costume or anything to distinguish themselves from normal people either, making it even _more_ difficult to locate them."

"So how do you know that they're all acting as one?" Ruby suddenly asked, gaining the attention of everybody who remained in the room. He shrugged before continuing, "I mean, isn't it possible that there are just many bad guys out there and it's just a coincidence that they're all acting with short time intervals between them?"

"That is… Actually something to consider," Blue thought out loud, slowly. She twirled some hair around her fingers, "Not that I don't like a good fight or anything; I just want to know _what_ we're fighting against and, more importantly, that we're not just rushing in there recklessly. That's Red's or Gold's job."

"Hey! Senior Red and I aren't _that_ reckless!" Gold yelled, raising his fist in anger in the direction of Blue. Unfortunately for him, Silver saw this, and punched him on the nose while growling something along the lines of 'Respect big sis!'

"I've been trailing them for the last _three_ _years_ ," Mirza deadpanned causing a chill to run down Yellow's and Emerald's spines, the Hoenn duo stopped bickering and even Green and Silver visibly flinched by his tone, "You don't just trail random incidents like that! They're interwoven! They're connected! And our opponent is powerful… Really, _really_ powerful…"

"There's more to it than just that right?" Silver finally asked, breaking the heavy tension. He looked straight at Mirza who, in turn, glanced away. Silver stepped forward, but was halted by Blue almost immediately.

"Silver is right, and I'm with him on this one," Blue added, releasing her grip on Silver's shoulder. The red head shuffled back to the background while Blue continued, "This isn't just your sense of justice talking right? I can tell… When my parents got kidnapped by Team Rocket earlier this year… My fight with Team Rocket was a personal one. I can see the same glint in your eyes that I felt back then… They got something that's precious to you right? And you need the Guardian of the Viridian Forest to help you get back whatever it is they took from you. I'd say, that since you asked for our help, we at least have the right to know what it is you're fighting for!"

A long, heavy and painful silence followed. Nobody in the room made a move. Some people opened their mouths, trying to break the tension, but closed them again not knowing what to say or afraid that they'd only make it worse. Finally, Yellow gulped nervously before turning to Blue, "If Mirza doesn't want to tell us, I think we should respect that and let him be. If the professors acknowledged him, then I don't really see a reason why _we_ shouldn't. He can't be a bad person if he has helped all the professors for years right? I think we should trust him."

Before Blue could respond to her argument, both Crystal and Professor Oak returned, bright smiles on their faces and Pokédexex in hands. The two returned the Pokédexes to their rightful owners as Crystal beamed, "All of your Pokédexes have been updated with the data that Mirza brought us! They should now be able to identify Pokémon native to the Sinnoh region with basic information regarding their types and identity. I should thank you again for the data, you've been a _really_ good help!"

"I'm glad I could be of some help," Mirza shrugged, as he watched the Pokédex holders flip through the pages on their newly upgraded devices. He suddenly tensed, his entire body trembling, breathing heavily and eyes wide open in shock. Yellow and Silver were the first to notice this, and before long, the others had ceased their activities to watch him curiously and in concern. Before anybody could say or do anything, Mirza had pulled Yellow and Silver to the ground and yelled, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

"Wha—" Green began, but never managed to finish. Hyper Beams pierced through the walls and exploded the lab, sending the eleven people inside flying outside.

* * *

 **Alright! Unlike** **Specialventure Academy** **Chapter 8's ending,** ** _this_** **ending actually confirms that they got hit! *shudders* the murderous aura and glares from my readers *shudders* I'll work on the next chapter of** **Specialventure Academy** **now, but before that, a few announcement regarding** **Night of the Black Sun** **!**

 **First of all, after quite a talk with my good friend M.D., I'm going to go request YOU to send in details for OCs that can and (most likely) will appear in this story! What do you have to send in? Name, gender, age, some description regarding personality and appearance and, most importantly, three** ** _candidate_** **Pokémon that you want your OC to have on hand. The last one likely needs more explanation, so here goes: the Pokémon themselves can be anyone from Kanto up to Sinnoh, but no legendaries and preferably no starter Pokémon. Why three candidates? Because I'm going to only use two of them at most, but to prevent two or more people sending OCs with the same Pokémon, I hope this should help make it even. Of course, Pokémon wise, this will be on a first come first serve basis (I'd rather not have two or more OCs have the same Pokémon). This will be a big help and will likely increase the update speed (cause it will slow down starting next week!). On a side note to this, please** ** _do_** **note that most OCs will play the role of bad guy or minions of the bad guys. I'm saying this because I know some people prefer to play the good cop. If you** ** _really_** **want your character to be on the good side, I can consider it; but it** ** _will_** **only have a minor role as the focus will be on the Pokédex holders and Mirza.**

 **While we're on the topic of OCs, I realized that the role of two characters that I planned later in the story can be played by two characters we've all grown to know and love. A poll has been created to see if you want Lyra(/Soul/Kotone) and/or Wally to appear in this story! So please check out the poll and vote if you like this story so far! I can guarantee that they won't appear next chapter even if they are voted to appear in the story, so there's still plenty of time to incorporate them in!**

 **Last announcement today: update speed will slow down considerably starting next week (this includes for my other stories). If you've read** **Specialventure Academy** **and/or** **Crimson Sunlight** **(which you probably have and found** **Night of the Black Sun** **through them), then you should already know that my university starts next week and, not knowing how busy I will be, I can't guarantee anything regarding the date of next chapter's publication… sorry about that…**

 **That's all for now, hope you liked this chapter (though I realize it's quite slow paced with only dialogue and little to no action) despite the pretty big cliffhanger there. If you do, feel free to post a review here and maybe check out my other stories (oh who am I kidding? My other stories are already far more popular than this one anyway xD)! I'll be working on the next chapter of** **Specialventure Academy** **now, considering the** ** _major_** **cliffhanger in the latest chapter *sigh***


	3. The Time Is Now! Dawn of the Battle!

**So yeah… I nearly had a heart attack on August 29** **th** **, no kidding! So you remember how I said that I will be busy last chapter? Well, it was true! So I decided to write the draft of this chapter in the Notes function of my phone, not realizing that the notes were linked to an e-mail address. So what do you think happened when I found out the e-mail address was wrong? Yup, I changed it… before I realized that my notes were gone… at over SIX THOUSAND words! And I did** ** _not_** **back up my phone because every Mega Byte on my laptop that I can save is ultra valuable (for some reason it is almost full now :/). So what's the point of me saying all this? It was a pain to get softwares to recover bits and pieces of my notes (even then, I only managed to recover bits and pieces of the first part of this chapter), so it isn't as good as my original draft (but then again, I have my awesome beta reader who helped me out and did** ** _not_** **laugh her ass off for more than four hours!)… I'm basically doing most on memory and filling up what is left open right now (though it's definitely** ** _not_** **as good as my original :(). I just created a new e-mail JUST to send in my backups every night to prevent that incident from ever happening again xD other than that, real life has been pretty good (though for some reason my traffic stat has been frozen from the 24** **th** **of August to the 31** **st** **:/). Okay, that's all life story for now xD**

 **Now, I promise I'll try** ** _not_** **to bore you with a long Author's note or anything, but there are** ** _still_** **a few things that I absolutely** ** _need_** **to write down, so please… don't just skip over them but read through them also…**

 **First of all, special thanks to, in order of sending them in, Namitaa776, joycewu333, DaPokemonMadster and GTheTecher for sending in their OCs last chapter! I know I already said this before, but I'll say it again: thank you! I hope I put your characters in character this chapter! Sorry to DaPokemonMadster and GTheTecher as their OCs won't be coming out… yet… But I promise your OC will come out soon!**

 **Next up, review responses! Six reviews from four different people since the last time I updated this story! You guys are awesome!**

 **Namitaa776 : You should know, seeing that you've been my (unofficial) beta reader for all my stories for a while now xD anyway, thanks for being the first to review this story (it looks kind of empty without a review ya know?). I know I said this before, but I'm just going to keep on nagging ya xD when are you making an account already? It's much easier that way! Also, let's see if this chapter really ****_did_** **live up to your expectations, shall we?**

 **Painted Lady Bug : Thank you for reading and taking the time to review Night of the Black Sun, I really appreciate it. I can tell that English isn't your first language, so please forgive me if I misunderstood your wording (you have very long, unsystematic sentences making it so that I can't really pick up what it is you really want to say (sorry for being so blunt and direct)). Anyway, I'm afraid I don't get the joke, but I can see why you think that way of Mirza… It's actually quite a popular writing technique, so look it up! I'm well aware he's depicted as invincible, but I ****_made_** **him that way for a reason. Why? Only Namitaa776 and I know, and neither one of us will reveal the answer until the right time comes! Ah, you're a sharp one, I admit that much! You got several possible answers. Unfortunately, I can't answer which one is correct (if any at all) without spoiling most of the story, so yeah… You're just going to have to wait and see like every other reader out there! Maybe this chapter will answer some questions! At the same time, maybe it'll just give you ****_more_** **questions; who knows? Wait, I do xD**

 **DaPokemonMadster : Wow… That's seriously all I can say knowing that you reviewed EVERY. LAST. CHAPTER. OF. EVERY. STORY. I. HAVE! Except the first two chapters of Specialventure Academy and my SoulSilver one shot Melting a Silver Soul, what gives xD? Just kidding xD I appreciate it, I really do! I know I already responded to you personally, but I feel like I have to write ****_something_** **down here for you xD anyway, just like Painted Lady Bug, I can't tell which theory (if any) is correct ****_without_** **spoiling the story. Are they good theories? Absolutely! Are any of them right? Let's find out!**

 **GTheTecher : Thank you for your OC submission, I already have an idea of how to incorporate him in the story even though you submitted him the latest from the ones who have submitted an OC (as a matter of fact, you submitted him when I was already editing this chapter). You put quite a lot of detail in the Pokémon description if I may say so myself! As for the story with Yu-Gi-Oh… I honestly dunno… I already said that I'm really busy and I barely have enough time to update the three that I have going already. If I ****_do_** **decide to do one (or a story from a different fandom for that matter) it probably won't be until the holidays… I'm actually planning an Inazuma Eleven one shot and thinking of a Digimon or Pokémon and Inazuma Eleven crossover right now, so maybe after that I can consider it…? I'm not** ** _that_** **confident with Yu-Gi-Oh, though it seems to be an interesting choice to write a fanfic about. I can't promise anything yet though…**

 **Disclaimer time! Other than OC Mirza and the plot, I don't own anything! This includes anything related to Pokémon, the newly added cover image (source of that is in the first chapter!) and the OCs submitted by Namitaa776 and joycewu333!**

* * *

 **-= Yellow's POV =-**

"I'm glad I could be of some help," I heard Mirza say. I wasn't focused on him, I was more focused on my Pokédex, and on all the new entries I had now, just like everybody else was. They found _two_ new evolutions for Eevee and they were so cute! I wonder what would happen if Red's Vee had evolved into one of them… I suddenly felt the air tense up and, when I looked up, saw that Mirza was both breathing heavily and trembling greatly. I was about to ask him what was wrong when all of a sudden he pulled me and Silver to the ground, shouting to the others, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

The second I hit the ground, multiple Hyper Beam attacks blew up the lab, sending all of us flying out. If it wasn't for Mirza's sharp senses and quick reflexes, Silver and I would be in a whole lot more pain than we were now. I looked around and saw to my shock that Silver, Mirza and I were the only three left unhurt enough to even stand! Mental note of to do things: thank Mirza for his quick thinking.

"I see, so there are some trainers who were able to avoid getting critically damaged," a female voice rang through the area. All three of us looked up to see three trainers standing on a nearby hill. All of them had one Pokémon with them that I recognized instantly and another one that I didn't. I quickly pulled out my Pokédex, thanking Mirza mentally for updating the data, so I could check on the Pokémon I didn't recognize. So these were the ones who attacked us huh? They hurt my friends and destroyed Professor Oak's lab! I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, already feeling my blood boil. The girl, who seemed to be of around Blue's age, started talking. Her jet black hair was tied into a low ponytail and her brown eyes glinted with… Anger? I shrugged, instead focusing on her attire: a white T-shirt and long, black trousers. I mentally thanked Arceus that Ruby was knocked unconscious right now, as her clothes were slightly torn and muddy, "I admit I'm impressed. I had not expected people to come out of that explosion alive. Guess we got a real fight this time!"

"Who are you?!" Silver demanded, basically asking the girl the question we all wanted to ask. My attention, however, was more on the male in the center. Even though I've never met him, he seemed so familiar… where have I seen him before? My train of thoughts was broken by an angry Silver, who continued shouting questions at the trio, "Why did you attack us?! Answer me!"

"You know… You talk too much…" the male in the center said. I flinched. I recognized that voice, but from where? Silver seemed to have been caught off guard as well. Was that man somebody Silver and I both know? "I'll silence you myself and finish you off for goo —"

"Hold on!" the ponytail girl shouted, interrupting her male partner and getting the attention of everybody in the area who was standing. She turned to her male companion, and bowed slightly before continuing, "With all due respect, please allow _me_ to take care of them. They are hardly worth your time. Go on ahead and I promise I will catch up."

"Very well… don't keep us waiting though." The male finally sighed, giving in to the request of his partner. He returned the Pokémon my Pokédex identified as a Roserade and got on his Salamance, while the other girl had already returned her Tyranitar and gotten on something known as a Garchomp. I shuddered. Whoever these trainers were, they sure are powerful! Are these the trainers Mirza was talking about earlier? The other girl had already left on her Pokémon, but the male took a moment to look down at me first. It was only when he turned around and set off that I finally recognized him.

"WAIT!" I called out, releasing Kitty from his confinement in his Poké Ball and flying after him. I _need_ to reach him! My eyes and thoughts were so focused on the male in front of me that I didn't focus on my surroundings. Big mistake Yellow! I suddenly felt the air heat up and, when I turned to the source, looked in horror as a Hyper Beam attack was launched straight at me. I couldn't move.

"SKARA!"

The next thing I knew, something hard crashed into me from my left, before the Hyper Beam exploded and sending me flying. I landed surprisingly softly and saw to my surprise that a Skarmory had taken the hit for me.

"T-Thank you…" I muttered, as I stroked the bird's beak. She tried to reassure me she was fine, but grimaced instead. It was only then that I noticed her wings were folded in an unusual and painful angle; her left wing was also charred significantly, probably from the attack she took head on earlier, "I'm sorry… you got hurt because of me… at least, let me do this to make it up to you…"

I placed my hands on her wound, receiving a confused and pained look from the metal bird, but she didn't withdraw her wing. Closing my eyes, I felt the power of the Viridian Forest flow through me, from my chest to my shoulders to my arms to my fingertips and, finally, to Skarmory's wings. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes to see a fully recovered yet confused Pokémon. I smiled, happy that she had recovered. I thanked her again, before hearing another explosion. I looked up just in time to see Silver and his Sneasel being thrown back, thankfully caught by Blue's inflated Wigglytuff. I then looked around, glad to see that more people had regained consciousness and had started facing off against the girl who attacked us.

"Golduck! Hydro Pump!"

"Scorch them Explotaro! Flamethrower!"

"Arckee! Use Flamethrower!"

"Hey! We use the same move! Awesome!"

"S-Shut up and focus on the battle in front of you!"

"Blasty! Avenge my brother! Hydro Pump!"

"Zzz… Zzz…"

"Pilo! Use SolarBeam! GO AND WAKE UP PRISSY BOY!"

"WAAAH! What was that for you barbarian?!"

"For pretending to sleep when our seniors are fighting for our lives!"

"WHAT?! I did NOT —"

"STOP FLIRTING!"

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!"

"Whatever… Dusclops! Shadow Punch!"

"Well? Aren't you going to help us out and fight, Prissy Boy?"

"Fine! Zuzu! Muddy Water!"

"Alright Pilo, go! Use Magical Leaf!"

I watched in awe as everybody was combining their attacks to hit that girl. I'm sure that with everybody's effort, it will do the trick! I then saw, to my horror, that a yellowish green screen of light was around Bronzong and a greenish transparent bubble was around Altaria. They were using Light Screen and Protect! But that meant… that meant that none of our attacks was doing much to them at all! I ran back to the group, prepared for a showdown like none we've ever faced before, as that girl has already proven to be very strong.

"Who are you?!" Green demanded, trying to convey as much rage in his voice as possible, even though I could _still_ hear that he, too, was shocked that none of our attacks was doing anything to her Pokémon at all, "Why did you attack us?! Answer me!"

"My name is Clara," the girl, apparently named Clara, finally sighed. Alright, at least we know her name! That was a start… Now _why_ did she attack us? "And I'd rather not fight you —"

"Then why ARE you?" Gold shouted, interrupting the girl. Normally I'd ignore Gold's outbursts, but this time, I had to admit he made a solid point: why _did_ she attack us if she didn't _want_ to fight us? "Why?! If you don't want to fight us, then just go and leave us alone! We didn't disturb you so you had no right to attack us out of the blue like that!"

"But to obtain what I need to obtain, I will do anything that I need to do," Clara finished, eyes closed. She seemed completely unfazed by the fact that Gold had just interrupted her. Her Altaria and Bronzong landed on either side of her, and Clara took her time to lovingly pet both of them. I frowned. Although I agree that Pokémon should be treated well, did she _really_ had to do that while she was in the middle of a battle? She was looking down on us! I was so deep in my thoughts and frustration that I didn't realize that she was glaring at us, "Even if it means destroying every last one of you!"

"You know… truth to be told, I don't want to fight you either," Mirza shrugged, as he walked up to her, hands in his pockets. What was he doing? He was going to get hurt! Wait… did he just say he _didn't_ want to fight her? Now I'm _really_ confused… "I don't have any business with you but with your two partners that just flew off. I don't really have a reason to fight you either, so why don't we make a deal? We promise that we won't stand in your way if you promise not to stand in ours. It seems pretty fair to me, no?"

"You don't get it, do you…?" Clara muttered, as she shook her head in annoyance. I gulped, as I was starting to get a bad feeling about this. She wasn't messing around here! Clara snapped her fingers at her Altaria and Bronzong, who both went in front of her as a response, "Show him what I mean. Dragon Pulse! Flash Cannon!"

Wait what?! Dragon Pulse and Flash Cannon? I've never even heard of those moves before! Well, guess I'm about to find out what they are… Her Altaria opened her mouth wide, condensing a bluish purple energy within her mouth, before releasing that energy in a stream towards us. Her Bronzong, in turn, charged up a silvery white energy beam and fired it straight at us. We all tensed, not knowing what to do or how to counter it. Before any of us could dodge it, however, the two beams curved upwards and, to all of our shock, collided with each other, exploding in a blinding flash of light.

* * *

 **-= 3** **rd** **Person POV =-**

The flash of light blinded the Pokédex holders and Mirza for a good and solid two minutes. When they finally regained their vision, however, they were shocked to see that one of them was missing.

"PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

The teens would recognize that voice anywhere, but even so, looked up to see Clara's Altaria circling forty meters above the ground, having Gold caught in her talons, who was struggling desperately to break free. Although the Pokédex holders knew the situation was dire, they didn't quite know what to do to help Gold.

"Skara!" Mirza called out. His Skarmory let out a battle cry and took the skies. Seeing this, Mirza grinned, glad to see that she wasn't all that hurt after taking that Hyper Beam attack head on before, "Brave Bird Theta Thirteen! Take down that Altaria and get Gold down!"

The Pokédex holders looked in awe as Skara had her entire body enveloped in a bright red flame while picking up speed. Soon after, she spread her wings and the red flames turned a sky blue in color, with the metal bird spinning as she got closer and closer to the shocked Altaria. Cheers of encouragement were heard from the Pokédex holders, and Mirza himself had his hopes high for his Pokémon's success.

"You're way too naïve if you think a simple, head front attack like that will defeat me," Clara announced loud and clear, gaining the shocked attention of the Pokédex holders. She turned to her Bronzong and nudged it forward, "Go. You know what to do."

Bronzong's eyes lit up a light blue color, a color that also covered Skara's entire body, extinguishing the flames. Numerous gasps from the Pokédex holders, Skara herself was unable to move and Mirza gritted his teeth as he realized what exactly was happening. Skara was turned around one eighty degrees and send plummeting down to the ground.

"Skara!" Mirza cried out as he was forced to watch his Skarmory come crashing down to the ground, unable to break free from Bronzong's Psychic attack.

The next thing everybody knew, Skara crashed into the ground, raising a huge dust cloud. When the dust had settled, everybody was shocked to see that Mirza had somehow managed to get under Skara, cushioning her fall.

"I'm glad you're not as hurt as I was afraid you'd be," Mirza grinned, as he petted Skara's beak lovingly. The metal bird cooed in concern, but her trainer shrugged it off, "I'm fine… now… get some rest and leave the rest to us alright?"

Mirza petted Skara one more time, before he got up, albeit slowly, and returned to the Pokédex holders, who were discussing worriedly about what had just happened.

"There's no way around it, she's strong… really, _really_ strong…" Crystal muttered, receiving silent nods of agreement from the other Pokédex holders, who were all still dumbstruck from what had just happened, "Not only did she took all of our attacks head on and left without a scratch, but Mirza, who defeated senior Green in just three moves, had his Skarmory grounded in just one… if anybody has a plan on what to do, please speak up now…"

"Not like I'm trying to rush you guys or anything," an irritated voice rang through the area. The group of teenagers looked up to see that Gold had ceased his efforts in struggling free from Altaria's grip for a moment to glare down at them, "But could you guys quit the chit chat and GET ME DOWN FROM THIS THING!?"

Everybody sweatdropped at Gold's outburst, but could understand his discomfort all the same. A few people looked like they wanted to suggest a plan of action, but shut their mouths again once they remembered the urgency of the situation at hand and not sure whether their plan would be a good idea or not. Finally, Green swallowed his pride and turned to the person who had just defeated him earlier, "You've faced her before right? What do you say we should do?"

"Not _her_ specifically, but I _have_ faced people like her. The thing is, there are a lot of things to consider here right now," Mirza replied while deep in thoughts. The others turned to him in the hopes that he had a solution, "From what I've seen of her battling so far, she's experienced in double battles. That fact alone makes her stand out from the trainers I have faced before, who all were experienced in one on one battles. She got one of us hostage, so we obviously can't act rashly or he'll get hurt. From the way she has attacked us so far, it looks like her Altaria is her main Pokémon, while her Bronzong is her back up and support."

"So if we can at least take out one of them, we can easily take out the other one right?" Sapphire exclaimed, receiving enthusiastic murmurs in response. Apparently, most of them thought just like the Hoenn native girl did, "Which one should we take out first though? The stronger one or the back up one?"

"Would it really be that easy? I honestly doubt it," Ruby suddenly came up, much more serious and focused than what most people had seen him. This, naturally, shocked the other trainers, but none were more shocked than Ruby's rival herself, "We've seen just how powerful she is. All of us attacked her together and we didn't even leave a scratch! Her Altaria knows Protect, and although it is likely her Bronzong knows it too, we at least know for a fact it can use Light Screen. In short, neither will be taken down easily. And did you guys forget how easily she took care of Mirza's Skarmory? I don't think beating her will be that easy… I'm not even sure if we're ready to face somebody like her in our current state…"

The other Pokédex holders fell silent as they begun to realize just how big the gap between them and Clara really was. Although nobody was willing to admit it, they all knew that Ruby was right: they wouldn't stand a chance against her how they are right now.

"I'm getting tired of waiting and just sitting around!" an angry voice interrupted the Pokédex holder's train of thoughts. Clara, who had been sitting on her spot on top of the hill, had sprung up and to say that she was angry would be the understatement of a lifetime, "I came here to finish you guys off and that is exactly what I'm going to do! Altaria!"

Clara snapped her fingers loud and clear, getting the attention of the Pokédex holders. Her Altaria, who had been circling high above the ground until then, began a nosedive. Gold, who was still trapped in the Pokémon's talons, screamed in horror as he plummeted down to his doom. Some gasps were heard from the group of teenage Pokémon trainers, but three boys had a determined look on their faces.

"We only have one shot at this. In other words, we mess up here and Gold's a goner," Mirza announced, grabbing and enlarging a Dive Ball from his belt. Green and Silver both nodded while enlarging a Poké Ball of their own. The others could just look on, hoping desperately that the three boys had a plan that could actually work and save Gold, "Alright let's do this! Lapereo! Ice Beam Epsilon Two! Shoot down her Altaria!"

Mirza's Lapras appeared with a large thud and, as soon as it had fully materialized, shot a high powered and fast beam of ice straight towards Altaria. Most of the Pokédex holders cheered, seeing that Altaria was moving too fast to dodge the Ice Beam, but Blue groaned, already having a feeling what was going to happen and cursing Mirza mentally for forgetting.

"You never learn…" Clara muttered while shaking her head. Blue's fears were realized as the raven haired girl nodded once at her Bronzong, "Go."

Clara's Bronzong floated in front of its trainer, eyes turning a light blue color. A light blue color that also surrounded Lapereo's Ice Beam, curving it around and sending it right back to where it came from. Yellow, Crystal, Ruby and Sapphire tensed up while Emerald started panicking as he saw the attack come back at them, but Blue was fuming.

"Oh COME on Mirza! You should've seen that coming! Why didn't you see that coming?!" Blue exploded, turning to said boy. She was shocked not to get a response from him when she started shouting. She was more shocked, however, by the fact that the older boy was grinning, "What are you…?"

"You're wrong Blue, I _did_ see that coming. As a matter of fact, I was _hoping_ that she would do that again. Now we can finish this and save Gold," Mirza grinned, completely unfazed by Blue's outburst. Glancing sideways, he continued, "You're up!"

"Right" Green threw his Poké Ball in the air and, together with the Pokémon he already had out, commanded the two at the same time, "Go! Use Psychic on that Ice Beam and redirect it straight to the ground!"

Once again shocking the poor brunette, Blue could only watch as Green's Alakazam materialized and, together with Green's Golduck, had his eyes turn a light blue color as well. The Ice Beam shook a bit before turning around once again and striking the ground, forming huge and sharp pillars of ice. Pillars of ice that Clara's Altaria was heading straight into.

"… I admit that _was_ impressive. Not only did you redirect an attack that my Bronzong had just redirected, but you created ice pillars like those with just one Ice Beam… However…" Clara smirked as she said that last word. Blue and Crystal bit their lower lip, realizing one aspect the boys had overlooked from their plan of action, and were sure that their opponent had realized it as well, "Looks to me like you forgot: your friend is still held by my Altaria! If my Altaria goes down then so will your friend. You actually made my job a whole lot easier!"

"Oh really? You might want to check again then!" a taunting voice suddenly came up, and everybody turned to see Silver's Sneasel and Murkrow land graciously beside their trainer, holding a still shivering Gold, "The move Thief isn't all that uncommon and really useful! Your attention was so distracted with what was happening _below_ Altaria that you didn't see what was happening _to_ Altaria!"

"Also…" Mirza smirked, seconds before Altaria, despite her efforts to avoid them, crashed into the pillars of ice. Clara's face hardened as she realized that she had just been outsmarted, "Your main Pokémon has just been defeated! Do you really think we are _that_ blind? You focused your attacks with Altaria and Bronzong was always there to back her up! Now that your Altaria is down, move out of the way and let me go to your two partners who are too afraid to face us!"

A full twenty seconds of silence followed after Mirza finished talking. Twenty seconds where nobody dared to move, feeling how tense the air around the jet black haired boy was.

"I SAID MOVE!" Mirza snapped. He pointed straight at Clara, and everybody rushed out of the way, overwhelmed by his anger, "LAPEREO! DO IT NOW! OMEGA ONE!"

Lapereo hesitated for a split second, obviously not used to the command, but obliged nonetheless. From his mouth came a stream of ice and snow which even made Sapphire shiver as a result, even though she was a full fifteen meters away from the attack. The powerful attack was heading straight towards Clara, who was visibly shocked at the huge power surge from her opponent.

"Bronzong!" she cried out frantically. Said Pokémon quickly got itself in between its trainer and the stream of destruction from Lapereo, creating a solid barrier of light around itself. Lapereo's overwhelming attack broke through the Light Screen as if it weren't there and struck the Bronze Bell Pokémon hard, creating a huge explosion, throwing Clara back a bit. Once the smoke cleared, everybody saw that, despite the power of the attack, Bronzong was still holding on, albeit only slightly. Clara gritted her teeth, before turning back to Mirza, "That attack… a trainer commanding a Lapras and Skarmory and who can change his battling style in an instant… don't tell me…"

"I am _not_ going to say this again," Mirza shouted, trembling in anger. The other teenagers had backed away in fear at the power he had just displayed, "I only have business with those other two who had left the battlefield! Move aside now or I won't hold back the next time I attack you!"

"I know you're hurt but I really need you now," Clara turned desperately towards her Pokémon who was still struggling to remain conscious, "Use Hyper Beam!"

Staggering quite a bit to remain conscious, Bronzong finally managed to charge up and fire a dense orange colored beam. When seeing the attack of his opponent, Mirza sighed exasperatedly before turning to his Lapras, "You know the drill… Hydro Pump Gamma Four."

With a loud shriek Lapras fired a high pressured stream of water at the ground which, in turn, bounced off and created a barrier that stopped the Hyper Beam in its tracks. The moment all the water had cleared from the scene, Mirza was glaring at his opponent.

"Any last word?" he asked in a dangerously low and threatening voice, taking a step forward to emphasize his point. Clara gulped, already aware that she wouldn't be able to defeat him in his current state, "Or do you want me to end this right here and now?"

The raven haired girl looked around desperately, seeing her unconscious Altaria laying on the ground near the shattered remains of the ice pillars, the Pokédex holders who were all watching the scene intently but had taken their distance, her Bronzong who was barely holding on and Mirza himself. After making up her mind, she recalled Altaria and turned to her Bronzong, "I'm counting on you! Flash Cannon!"

Bronzong charged up again, this time a silvery white energy, before firing it at the skies above. The Pokédex holders, having already seen her strategy, quickly shielded their eyes or turned away to prevent themselves from getting blinded by the bright flash of light that followed. When they could look up and see again, there was no sign of either Clara or her Bronzong.

"She got away!" Sapphire shouted while punching a nearby boulder, crushing it to smithereens. Like the others, she was still angered after seeing the huge power difference between them and Clara. Taking a few breaths to try and calm herself down, she turned back to the group and asked a question to nobody in particular, "So what do we do now?"

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Mirza announced with confidence while recalling his Lapereo. Green, Blue, Crystal, Silver and Yellow all nodded, although the last one was a bit hesitant. Turning back to Sapphire, he continued, "There were two other trainers with her right? We're going after them and give them a piece of our mind! Skara!"

With a loud battle cry, Skara spread her wings and took to the skies. Mirza ran after her a bit before jumping on her back, flying off in the direction Clara's partners had run off to. One by one, the Pokédex holders recalled their Pokémon and send out their flying types, following Mirza into what all of them knew was going to be the fight of their lives.

* * *

It took the Pokédex holders fifteen minutes of flying just to catch up with Mirza and Skara. Despite all of their injuries, they didn't slow down or hold back in their speed while chasing Clara's partners. They knew Mirza was right on this one, and if they wanted to find out more about them, it was all or nothing then and there.

"H-Hold up Mirza!" Emerald called out, being the first to voice his complaints. Mirza didn't look back but slowed down slightly all the same to allow them to fly alongside him, "I get why we have to chase them but shouldn't we rest up and make sure our Pokémon are in the best state possible?"

"You know… you don't _have_ to join me, so turn back now if you're scared," Mirza deadpanned, causing shivers to run down some people's spines just from hearing his tone, "There are some things where we can't just go into them relaxed and expect to come out of it victoriously! The battles with them are the real thing! And they're powerful… you saw for yourself just how powerful _one_ of them is. If you're not into this wholeheartedly then turn back now Croissant Head!"

"Don't call it a croissant!" Emerald yelled angrily once he heard his nickname. When he saw that nobody paid attention he got even angrier.

"The point that I'm trying to make here," Mirza continued in a slightly less demanding tone than before, "Is that the battles from here on out are all or nothing battles. Clara was determined to kill us _just_ to defeat us, and I'm sure that there are stronger trainers than her out there waiting for us…"

"But we have you on our side, so what do we really have to worry about?" Gold shrugged while being supported from either side by Silver and Crystal. A sudden turn and Gold, who hadn't fully recovered from his near death experience, fell to the side. Fortunately for him, he fell into someone. Unfortunately for him, that someone was Crystal, "OW! What gives Super Serious Gal?!"

" _That_ was for clinging onto me Gold, and how many times do I have to tell you _not_ to call me that?" Crystal replied angrily while readjusting her shoe. Calming down almost instantly, she turned to Mirza with a worried expression on her face, "What _I_ want to know is what happened? I thought you were confident facing them one on one, but it took all of us combined just to overpower her."

"Correction, Crystal, I _was_ confident facing them one on one… until we faced her that is," Mirza clenched his fists in frustration and it took a while before he had controlled his voice enough to prevent it from trembling, "Their trainers have gotten a _lot_ stronger than what I'm used to, so if Clara was _that_ strong, that would only mea — oh crap! SKARA! RETURN!"

In front of everybody's surprised eyes, Mirza recalled his Skarmory in mid air, surprising even the metal bird herself. Numerous gasps were heard, and Crystal and Sapphire were about to dive after him before Mirza made a move of his own.

"STARLIGHT!" the black head called out loud and clear. A strong gust of wind came from the back of the Pokédex holders and from out of the dense curtain of trees below a majestic, light green dragon like Pokémon rose up. Its green, rhombus-shaped wings were outlined with a yellowish orange outline, and each flap of them sounded as if it was singing. Its teal colored antennae swayed in the wind and its long, thin yet powerful tail lashed through the air. The eyes of the dragon, however, were focused on Mirza through the teal covers that protected them. The Pokémon swiftly grabbed him by the lower arms and flipped him on its back. Mirza grinned as he petted his Flygon, "Thanks girl. A little change of plans: more targets, stronger than what we prepared for. I'll need your help, you up for it?"

"You had such a beautiful Flygon waiting in the trees _just to catch you_?!" Ruby cried out frantically at the eldest trainer in the group. Even through his anger, Sapphire, who was sharing her Tropius with him since Ruby lacked a flying type, could hear his fascination in the Pokémon's looks and facepalmed.

"What I want to know," Blue added, as she looked admiringly at the Hoenn native Pokémon, before turning back to her rider, "Is why you recalled your Skarmory all of a sudden. There wasn't really a reason to recall her now was there?"

"Actually there is, and you'll find out what that reason is soon enough!" Mirza replied back, smiling grimly. He then turned to his Pokémon and petted her encouragingly, "You ready? Starlight go! Dragon Rush Phi Four!"

With a loud battle cry, the Pokédex holders watched in shock as Starlight, and Mirza as he was still riding her, was enveloped in sapphire blue flames, before rocketing off into the distance in a zigzag pattern, leaving the other teenagers dumbstruck and at a loss for words.

"Wow…" Yellow finally managed, being the first to regain her voice after seeing that move for the first time. She laughed nervously before continuing with "You have to give him credit: he knows how to make an exit!"

"But there are a lot of things we _don't_ know about him yet…" Green thought out loud. When the others turned to him, he elaborated, "You know, like who he truly is, what he's fighting for and, more importantly, whether we can trust him or not. Sure he has worked for the other regional professors, but what if that was all an act and he is actually part of _them_?"

"I understand… but I… I still choose to trust him!" Yellow finished, as confident and determined as she could. When she saw her former teacher's face, she quickly added, "I mean… he has saved Silver and Gold! And me… twice… I don't think he would go to such extremes to make sure that we're safe if he wasn't on our side to begin with. Also, when I healed his Skara, I read her thoughts… She would be willing to take on _any_ kind of attack to protect him! And, according to her, all of his other Pokémon would do the same! A Pokémon wouldn't be willing to do that if they don't trust their trainer with all their heart! Mirza at least cares for his Pokémon, so I don't think he can be _that_ bad. That's why I trust him!"

"I trust him too," Silver added seriously. He received a few perplexed looks but shrugged them off, instead choosing to fly off in the direction Mirza had gone off to, quickly followed by both Yellow and Blue. Over his shoulder, he shouted his explanation, "You saw it too right? How he battles? Until he gives me a real reason to not trust him I _will_ trust him. We have a common enemy and, no matter how much I hate to admit it, we need his help!"

Hesitantly, the other Pokédex holders followed the red head's example and flew off after him. After just two minutes, Green was the only one left. He sighed, before spurring his Charizard on to follow the others, muttering, "If you can't beat them, might as well join them…"

* * *

Not surprisingly, Mirza and Starlight had put quite the bit of distance in between them and the Pokédex holders, but the teenagers had no idea just how _much_ distance Mirza could have covered in so little time. After twenty minutes of nonstop, high speed flying, the Pokédex holders came to an open field, and were shocked speechless after seeing the setting.

All the trees in the area had been uprooted and looked more like large toothpicks than trees. Many patches of grass were charred, as if a fire had just burned the area, and in the middle of the open field stood the girl who was with Clara earlier, Magnezone on her right and Tyranitar on her left. She looked as if she was either deep in thoughts or bored out of her mind.

"So _that_ is why Mirza recalled Skara!" Crystal exclaimed suddenly after she looked up Magnezone on her Pokédex. The other trainers turned to look at her, confused, so she explained it to them, "Magnezone's ability is Magnet Pull, so Steel type Pokémon like Mirza's Skara wouldn't be able to move freely at all! But… _how_ did he know she had a Magnezone… that girl didn't use that Pokémon before right?"

"Starlight, let's go! Dragon Rush Theta Nine!" a familiar voice rang through the area. The Pokédex holders turned to the direction of the voice and saw Mirza still riding his shiny Flygon, both looked a bit bruised and battered but otherwise were unharmed. Starlight enveloped herself in the same sapphire blue flames like before and darted straight towards the girl, who didn't move a muscle. All of a sudden, both Starlight and Mirza disappeared, shocking the Pokédex holders. The next moment, they reappeared behind the girl and continued their attack.

"Defense formation YH7, go."

Without even turning around, the girl's Tyranitar and Magnezone made a move. The Tyranitar shot out a barrage of Stone Edge attacks in all directions while her Magnezone charged up a bit before releasing an overwhelming Discharge attack. Magnezone's attack charged up the very air itself while at the same time giving Tyranitar's Stone Edge a boost. Both Mirza and Starlight were caught off guard and had to pay the bitter price for it. Neither one of them could stand up directly after that.

"Your attacks are interesting; you deviate from the usual head on attacks other trainers seem to enjoy and try to find openings in your opponent's defenses. An admirable attack pattern, but one that is useless against YH7," the girl said in an almost monotone, glancing back at her opponent. Despite obviously having battled for a while with Mirza, her sky blue shirt and dark brown pants didn't even have a speck of dirt on them. Her dirty blonde hair that reached slightly under her shoulders swayed in the wind, but even her pale skin was clear of any visible injuries. It took a while before she realized that the Pokédex holders were watching their battle, "Looks like there are more trainers Clara let go unharmed than what was originally planned…"

"She's… strong… no, more than that…" Emerald clenched his fists after seeing the display of power the girl had just shown, "She makes Clara look like an amateur! Mirza's Starlight is obviously much stronger than either his Skara or Lapereo, but she dodged an attack like that without batting an eye!"

"There's only one chance of taking her down, and I'm sure you guys realize what it is," Green said, taking command of the group while having his hand rest on his Charizard. The others nodded, fully aware what Professor Oak's grandson wanted to do, "Don't hold back! Use the ultimate attacks in three… two… one… NOW!"

"BLAST BURN!" Green, Gold and Sapphire called out as their starters shot out a white hot inferno straight at their opponent.

"HYDRO CANNON!" Blue, Silver and Ruby commanded, followed with their starters firing a high pressured and high powered stream of water.

"FRENZY PLANT!" Crystal and Emerald yelled on top of their lungs, sending out their starters who attacked without holding back.

The eight ultimate attacks converged and headed straight at the girl as a single destructive beam. The Pokédex holders cheered, certain that _that_ much power would do the trick, as even without Red's Saur backing them up, it was stronger than when they used it against Guile's sea monster. The girl, however, didn't seem impressed at all, as she sighed and turned to her two Pokémon.

"Defense formation SF17"

Tyranitar roared, as he stomped the ground and, to the utter shock of the Pokédex holders, flipped a huge chunk of earth and soil to act as a barrier. It then fired off several Stone Edge attacks to fortify the natural shield. When the ultimate attacks _did_ break through, however, a transparent bubble formed around both Tyranitar and Magnezone, protecting both of them from the attack. When she saw what happened, Blue cursed loudly.

"Why do all of their Pokémon know that move?!" she cried out, half in anger and half in desperation. The others gulped, not expecting her to have blocked off their ultimate attack as if it were nothing, "We need more power to break through that Protect but we're already attacking with everything we've got!"

"No we're not Blue! We're not attacking with everything we've got just yet! Chuchu!" Yellow called out as her electric mouse escaped from her confinements in Yellow's Poké Ball and jumped in front of her trainer, cheeks sparking with electricity and ready to go. Gold grinned, realizing what his blonde senior was planning, and called out his Pichu. Yellow punched the air in front of her and commanded the fourth ultimate attack, "Chuchu! Pich! Volt Tackle! GO!"

The two electric mice darted off at incredible speeds, body crackling and completely covered in electricity, as they joined the converged beam of the Pokédex holders' ultimate attack. The attack connected, causing a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, the bubbles around Tyranitar and Magnezone had vanished and the teenagers could see just how much damage they had inflicted in their last combined attack. Magnezone seemed almost completely unharmed, and Tyranitar, although heavily injured and sparks appearing around its body, was still standing as well.

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" Gold yelled in shock as his Pichu jumped back on his shoulder. The other Pokédex holders were shocked as well. Their opponent took their strongest combined attack head on and left with both her Pokémon still standing!

"The ultimate attacks… the moves said to have no equal when it comes to Fire, Water, Grass and Electric type moves…" the girl muttered, completely unfazed by the attack. She looked around a bit to see just how powerful the previous attack was, it had made a deep trench in the ground, before turning back to the Pokédex holders, "To think trainers like you actually managed to master such powerful moves… but in the end, it was all meaningle —"

"Don't forget about me!" Mirza suddenly shouted, interrupting her words, appearing in front of her Magnezone on top of Starlight, "Starlight go! Flamethrower Omicron Nine!"

From out of Starlight's mouth a jade green flame appeared, as she fired it as a huge stream at Magnezone at very close range. The Pokémon on the receiving end struggled to escape the wrath of Starlight's attack but was unsuccessful. After being hit continuously by the emerald flames for half a minute, Magnezone collapsed, completely unconscious. Starlight flew back backwards to the Pokédex holders and Mirza jumped off his Pokémon, smirking at the results of his attack.

"Not bad at all… you finally broke past my defenses and, more surprisingly, managed to take down Magnezone… I left my guard down… however," the girl smirked darkly, the first sign of emotions displayed by her so far, as Mirza gritted his teeth. The next moment, Starlight collapsed, having lost consciousness, surprising all of the Pokédex holders, " _You_ approached me carelessly and let your guard down as well. Your Flygon paid the price for your mistake, and seeing your face, that Pokémon was your ace, was she not?"

"A combination of poison and Magnezone's Hidden Power… I'm sorry," Mirza reluctantly returned Starlight back to her Luxury Ball, before turning back to her opponent, "Why are you doing this? Why are you battling like that? Answer me! Demetria!"

'Demetria?' Blue wondered, intrigued by the name after Mirza said it. She glanced at their opponent and scowled in thoughts, 'Isn't that the girl who…'

"Demetria…" the girl repeated almost lifelessly, before she exploded, "I have no idea who this 'Demetria' is! Don't confuse me for somebody else! Tyranitar!"

Tyranitar roared, firing multiple Stone Edge attacks at the Pokédex holders, missing all of them, albeit barely. The young trainers gulped after seeing the speed at which the stones travelled at. Some of the stones travelled too fast for them to see them!

"Earth has a saying that goes like this: a frog in a well does not know the great ocean…" the girl muttered darkly, enlarging an Ultra Ball from her wristband. Mirza's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she was about to do, "Learn how powerless you are! Offensive formation MD19!"

"EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE!" Mirza shouted, even though he knew he was already too late. The Pokédex holders took a fraction of a second to realize the urgency of the situation, but quickly grasped on as they recalled their Pokémon and made a run for it.

From out of the girl's Ultra Ball appeared a dark blue, bipedal dragon-like Pokémon with an appendage that resembled a jet's engine. Its fins, which grew out from either one of its arms, back and tail, were long and powerful, and there was a notch on the one on his back. Because of these features, the Pokémon looked a lot like a land shark. The Garchomp immediately opened its mouth as wide as it could, gathering a bright orange colored sphere of energy, before firing it straight up in the air. Once about fifty meters up, the sphere exploded, raining down huge chunks of it straight at the Pokédex holders. While all of this happened in the air, Tyranitar was charging up a dense orange colored beam, before firing said beam straight at the Pokédex holders. The combined power of Garchomp's Draco Meteor and Tyranitar's Hyper Beam created an explosion like none other, sending the Pokédex holders flying in different directions…

* * *

 **What is with the huge gap in power between the two trainers the Pokédex holders have faced this chapter and the Pokédex holders themselves? What is the source of Mirza's power, being able to fight head to head with these trainers? What happened to Clara? Who is this 'Demetria' girl and what is her connection with Mirza? Scratch that thought, how does** ** _Blue_** **think she knows her? Where is the male who was with them and, more importantly, how does Yellow (and possibly Silver) recognize him? Who is he? Why do I love huge explosions, both in the middle of the chapter and as the ending? Can Mirza truly be trusted or is Green right for a change? When will the last Pokédex holder, Red, make his appearance in this story? And the question that was on everybody's mind: if Yellow is here with the Pokédex holders, who was the girl in chapter one? Or was it** ** _really_** **Yellow in chapter one? So many questions, so little answers…**

 **Hooray for cliffhangers! Which cliffhanger is better, this one or the one in the previous chapter xD? Also, a reminder: my poll is still up and we are at a complete tie between the Lyra lovers and the Wally fans! In other words, please vote!**

 **Anyway, the exploded lab last time was inspired by the amazing fanfiction Enter the Fans by DaPokemonMadster (as it was correctly pointed out by DaPokemonMadster herself). I dunno… I know you didn't approve of me using that idea, but you didn't say I _couldn't_ so… Please don't sue me xD I gave you an indirect shout out after all xD! As a matter of fact, here's a direct one: go check out  DaPokemonMadster's works before she sues me xD! No, don't do it for that reason but do it because her works are awesome xD! Also, Starlight is the nickname of the female shiny Flygon of my friend (who hasn't responded to my e-mail in three years or so…). I kind of took the Pokémon and nickname from her without her consent (come on! She doesn't respond for three years! What do you _want_ me to do?) xD! The visual description of moves was taken from when they were used in the XY anime (if any) or in either the Sinnoh or Unova arcs. Except Starlight's Flamethrower, _that_ was purely imagination on my part xD! The names Mirza and Demetria are a reference to something also! Though except for  Namitaa776 and myself, I doubt anyone knows to what xD! More trivia is good right? Also, loads of hints and references if you squint hard enough! As a matter of fact, I lost track just how _many_ references I made in this chapter...**

 **That is all for now… I hope you like this extra long chapter (it is the longest chapter that I've ever written!) as I don't think any of my following chapters will be anywhere near this chapter's length (without the AN the word count is a massive 7.335 in Microsoft Word and the page numbers, with the AN, is a staggering 22) xD to put it in perspective, with the AN and everything, this chapter is almost three times the length of a typical chapter from Crimson Sunlight! I'm going to work on Specialventure Academy seeing as the tension is rising in that story… In the meantime, please feel free to follow, favorite and review this story! You have _no_ idea how much it means to me especially when people do it with this story!**


	4. Stroll Down Memory Lane! Friend or Foe!

**Alright, first things first! I know he _probably_ won't see this seeing as 1) he kind of lost interest in Pokémon (shouldn't that be impossible? One does not simply _lose interest_ in Pokémon** **…** **) and 2) he doesn't even know I have a fanfiction account (and even if he _does_ he probably doesn't know it's me** **…** **). Having said that, I'll say this in case he _does_ read this (one day): happy birthday to my dear cousin! Yeah, he was somewhat of a role model to me when I was younger xD while everybody in my class looked up to historical figures and what not, I looked up to my cousin** **…** **yup, it was hilarious xD**

 **Wow, I put a lot of effort in the previous chapter and I guess it really showed (apart from it being my longest chapter _ever_ )! So many positive reviews last time around! I'm glad you guys liked last chapter! Let's see if I can keep it up this time around! Oh, but before that, since nobody but ****Namitaa776** **saw the references (and even she missed a few!), I decided to have like a mini list of all the references in the previous chapter! Depending on how many references there are and how many people see them I may or may not keep doing these lists each and every chapter.**

 **The commands of the second girl (Offensive/Defensive formation) is a reference to Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stone's El Dorado. The second part of the command (two letters and number) should be obvious: the letters are the initials of people who have influenced my life one way or another and the number is said person's favorite number! While writing the Mirza/Green combo attack against Clara, I had a scene from Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time in mind (the Jaden/Yugi combo to be specific). The ice pillars? Fubuki Shirou's Eternal Blizzard in the match against Gemini Storm. The last quote? Directly taken from Reize in episode 30, and is one of the most *ahem* appropriate things for her to say in that situation that I know. Is that all of the references out there? Nope, but I have to leave it at that…**

 **Before I get to review responses, which I will eventually, two announcements! The first is regarding** **Night of the Black Sun** **! If you remember correctly, I had a poll out for over a month now, and the poll results are in! Apparently, the amount of Lyra and Wally lovers are equal, with both receiving two votes! Two other people have also voted for the both of them to be coming in, so I'm afraid that I will grant those two voters' wish… in other words: both Lyra and Wally will make an appearance in this story (though I haven't quite decided when or how)! The second announcement is for a story that I _will_ be writing soon, and which will have the first chapter published on the nineteenth of November (yes, that's an important day for me)! A poll regarding that story has been opened, so please check it out and vote! As a matter of fact, you get eight votes! The only two things that I can say about that story right now are that it was originally intended for  Namitaa776 and that it is a Pokémon Special and Inazuma Eleven crossover (so there may be spoilers for especially the latter…)! Other than that? I don't want to spoil** **…** **or rather, I haven't thought that far ahead yet** **…**

 **Review responses, because we got six last time! A new record for one single chapter I might add! Thank you!**

 **Namitaa776** **: (I know you won't be able to respond, but…) You know me right? References EVERYWHERE xD! But yeah, you're right… thank you so much, you know I couldn't have done it without you right? Yeah, that person** _ **will**_ **come out eventually! As a matter of fact… no, I'll keep it a secret for now. Oh, and thanks for censoring said person's name since, as you correctly pointed out, that person's name _could_ be considered a spoiler! (and if it doesn't count as one, at least it'll leave people hanging xD)**

 **Painted Lady Bug** **: I'm sorry, but** **Night of the Black Sun** **is going to contain quite a bit of action/fighting scenes… I just realized this as well… Having said that, I'm sure you'll like this chapter seeing as there are going to be more than enough riddles for you to solve (which I'm sure you'll try to)! Yeah, they did, but that wasn't really quite the plan of the second girl though… you just realized? I never mentioned the name of the girl right? You just** _ **assumed**_ **it was Yellow because a) I love Specialshipping and/or b) the summary says "contains eventual Specialshipping". Yeah, a very simple trick of the mind I might add. Unfortunately, you don't have a guarantee that the girl** _ **isn't**_ **Yellow either! Yes, I'm playing mind games with you right now… let's see if you can figure out the answer before I reveal it!**

 **joycewu333** **: Thank you so much! Truthfully, I was afraid I didn't get your character in character last chapter (especially the serious part), but I'm glad I did and that you liked it! Don't worry, she won't die! Or at least, she hasn't died as of yet… I think… well yeah, Green has a vacant spot in his team left open after he gave Silver his Rhydon, so why not put in Alakazam? If I'm not mistaken, he gave Silver his Rhydon right after the Battle Frontier fiasco and the time frame of Night of the Black Sun is a few weeks _after_ the Battle Frontier fiasco. Yeah, it's intentional, but good job pointing it out! You'll find out why soon enough!**

 **DaPokemonMadster** **: Well of course, what do you expect with over 9k words in total xD? I put those two lines especially for you ;D "a few hints"? Really? Wow, I had expected to have dropped enough hints to fill up an encyclopedia, but oh well… you put in good theories that makes sense (as in, I can see why you think that way), and what I** _ **want**_ **the readers to think. The question is whether they are right or not right? So why don't we find out? Oh, and your OC will come out today, so I hope he's in character! (And apologies in advance if he isn't** **…** **)**

 **GTheTecher** **: Do you mean with the male partner of Clara or with** **DaPokemonMadster's** **OC? Also, about that programmer… is it a request or a challenge? You know what? Scratch both of them as I don't know the answer to either xD. Actually,** **DaPokemonMadster** **'s OC will come out today, and I can already tell you that the introduction of your OC is coming nearer with every word! Whether the two will team up, however, remains to be seen! Talking about your OC, do you mind if I change one of the moves of the** **Pokémon** **for the purpose of the flow of the story? Anyway, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter (just like everybody else) and I hope you'll enjoy this one just as much! And no, I have no clue what anime you're referring to I'm afraid** **…**

 **Warnings: Yeah** **…** **flashbacks… I'm not confident with them no matter how much people praise them, so… and starting this chapter, darker themes** **…** **yeah** **…** **I _did_ say in the summary that this story will contain darker themes in later chapters right? Well, apparently, "later chapters" means right now…**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always, but let's add "** **DaPokemonMadster** **'s OC" among the things I don't own shall we? Along with anything related to Pokémon and the OCs that appeared last time except for Mirza.**

* * *

 **-= Silver's POV =-**

My entire body hurt like never before, and I winced as I tried to move myself. I could feel a cold breeze hitting my face and something that felt like a tree trunk behind me. Was I lying against a tree? But… how did I get here? And where were the others? I faintly remember being in a battle and blown away by an explosion, but…

"Silver! Silver, are you alright? Please wake up! Silver!"

That voice… I recognized it, but why did it seem like it was coming from so far away? I grimaced as I sat up. When I opened my eyes, all the while enduring the pain coursing through my body, I could see Yellow sigh in relief.

"I'm glad to see you're up Silver; I was afraid you could've been hurt!" Yellow said worriedly. I cringed in pain and she hurriedly ran over to check what was wrong, "I'm sorry! I spoke too soon! Stay here okay? I'll go find something that can heal you!"

"Don't bother…" another familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere. Both Yellow and I tensed up, grabbing a Poké Ball from our belts and trying to take a defensive stance. The next thing I knew something dropped in front of me. It was a bundle of some sorts and the aroma that came from it made my mouth water. Mirza suddenly appeared in front of us and I figured he must've been in the trees, trying to find out where we are, where everybody else is and, more importantly, where our enemies are. He took the bundle and opened it, offering what looked like a cake of berries to both Yellow and I, "The two of you better eat this. Offensive Formation MD19 can seriously take a toll on the target's body. Even so, it's much stronger than I remember it to be… Silver, you must've been hit directly weren't you? I have to say I'm impressed you're still breathing considering how powerful that attack was…"

"You got quite a bit to explain, now don't you Mirza?" I looked at him skeptically as he laughed sheepishly. The pain coursing through my body suddenly became a lot worse and both Yellow and Mirza had to force me to sit up against the tree I was lying against earlier. I couldn't thank them, as I could barely smile, but they helped me eat the food. Surprisingly, I already felt much better even after the first bite alone.

"I don't really mean to pry, but I think Silver is right…" Yellow began hesitantly as she chewed on her piece of cake. Mirza didn't respond, so she took a deep breath and continued, "You know more about them than you let on. We want to help you Mirza, really, but we can't if you don't trust us… at least tell us what it is you're fighting for an —"

"Oh, 'ow cute! Lil' kids playin' to'ether like this," a taunting voice came from our right, interrupting Yellow's sentence. All of us turned to the source of the voice and saw a man in his early twenties walking up to us, a Rapidash on his right and a Ludicolo on his left. His close cropped dirty blond hair was partly hidden by the big cowboy hat he was wearing. Both his brown button-down and the black vest he wore over it had an insignia on them but I didn't recognize it. Either that or it was too far away for me to recognize it. I glanced over in Mirza's direction and, judging from his defensive stance, figured that we didn't need to look for our enemy. The enemy had found us! "So… yer playmates wanna play with lil ol' me?"

"Don't do this Clyde…" Mirza hissed in a dangerously low tone while moving in front of Yellow and I. Something was different about this Clyde person compared to the two girls we faced earlier, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Even so, I still don't trust him… "I don't want to hurt you Clyde! Don't make me hurt you!"

" _You_ 'urt _meh_?" Clyde asked in disbelief before roaring with laughter. Once he quieted down, he grinned while petting his Rapidash, "Doubt ya can 'urt a fly kid! I 'now D'metria took out yer Starlight, and 'verybody knows she's yer ace! Ya ain't got nothin' left!"

"You're right… Starlight can't fight anymore thanks to Demetria…" Mirza admitted reluctantly. I was shocked at what happened next. He actually grinned himself as he pointed to the skies, "But I'll let you in on a little secret Clyde! Starlight isn't my ace! Fubuki is!"

A cry came from the trees before a gray, bipedal Pokémon appeared in front of me out of nowhere. It had a crown of red feathers on top of his head, one thinner feather protruding either of his ears and two more feathers that acted as his tail. The three claws on either of his paws were long and sharp and the Pokémon itself seemed ready to face off against Clyde's.

"I a'mit I didn't 'new you 'ad a Wea'ile," Clyde said once he regained his speaking ability. Weavile? Is that the name of the Pokémon in front of Mirza? It must be, but… why does that name sound so familiar…? And the Pokémon itself… My eyes widened in recognition once I realized it: the Pokémon in front of me is what my Sneasel will become once he evolved! "But yer Ice type won't be a problem fer ma Fire type Rap'dash! Flare Blitz!"

Clyde's Rapidash enveloped itself in flames as it galloped straight for us at an incredible pace. I tensed seeing the move as it looked like it was even stronger than Mirza's Skarmory's Brave Bird attack. I already enlarged Feraligatr's Poké Ball and was about to send him out when Mirza suddenly held out his hand to stop me from attacking. Alright… so he wanted to play the hero, fine by me. I reluctantly fastened Feraligatr's Poké Ball back on my belt and hoped Mirza had a plan.

"It's true that your Rapidash has the type advantage, but types aren't everything!" Mirza announced as said Pokémon kept on coming closer and closer. If you want to do something you better hurry it up Mirza! Perhaps sensing the urgency, he actually _did_ made a move, "And let me tell you something else Clyde: I'm not the trainer I once was! But instead of telling you just how much I've changed, Fubuki will _show_ you! Fubuki! Offensive Formation K02, let's go!"

Wait, did he just… that's the same commands that Demetria used in _her_ attacks! Does this mean that…? I quickly turned to the battle in front of me to see that his Weavile had disappeared into thin air. I looked around frantically trying to locate the Pokémon when I heard a crash and turned just in time to see Clyde's Rapidash crashing into the ground. All of a sudden, shards of ice came raining down from all different directions on the Fire Horse Pokémon making it yelp in pain. Once the shards of ice stopped raining down, I saw that Mirza's Weavile had reappeared beside his trainer while dusting off his claws nonchalantly.

"Rap'dash!" Clyde cried out, shocked at how easily Mirza's Weavile took out his Pokémon. He then turned to Mirza, "How'd yer Wea'ile do that? No Ice type 'as ev'r beat'n me Rap'dash! Answer me!"

"I actually have to thank you Clyde, your Rapidash's Flare Blitz is just what Fubuki needs to use one of our strongest techniques…" Mirza smirked darkly as the air around him suddenly chilled significantly. What's going on?! I thought the aura around Mirza when his Lapereo used that Omega One attack against Clara was powerful, but this energy radiating from him… it's frightening! "Let me show you the power of the fusion of flame and ice! The power that I have obtained after all my training! Fubuki! Show them just how powerful an exclusive move of our own can be! Pyro Blizzard Omicron Three!"

Once again, shards of ice came raining down. The two differences this time around, however, was the fact that the shards were aimed straight at Clyde and his Ludicolo and that it wasn't just ice that was raining down on them! Somehow, the flames of Rapidash's Flare Blitz came raining down on them as well! What kind of attack was this? Is this the gap of power between him and us? I clenched my fists as I began to realize just how powerful Mirza truly was. From the corner of my eye I could see that Yellow was shocked speechless as well.

"I a'mit I'm 'mpressed by yer power and 'ow much ya've grown Mirza!" Clyde's voice broke me from my train of thoughts. I turned to look at how much damage Fubuki's Pyro Blizzard did but was shocked to see a transparent bubble around Clyde and his Ludicolo. His Pokémon knew Protect as well?! Do _any_ of them have a Pokémon that does _not_ know that move?! He grinned before continuing, "But yer gonna need ta try 'arder ta beat me!"

"Protect might be able to stop Pyro Blizzard, but not this one!" Mirza yelled as he pointed straight at Clyde, "If you think Pyro Blizzard is the _only_ move Fubuki and I came up with then you'd better think again! We've maximized the power of Fubuki's Night Slash attack and made yet another move of our own! I'll even let you have the honor of being the first opponent to be taken down by Fubuki's new move! Face the true power of darkness! Night Blade Storm Omega Twelve, let's go!"

Once again, Fubuki disappeared and suddenly reappeared within the protective bubble of Protect, shocking everybody but his trainer. Having his claws surrounded by a dark energy, Fubuki's attacks were relentless as he pummeled Clyde's Ludicolo at a speed faster than any of us could follow. In no more than two seconds, the Carefree Pokémon had collapsed and Fubuki had jumped back to his trainer's side, completely unharmed as of yet.

"W-What just happened?" Yellow gasped, not understanding the situation. I was speechless at Mirza's displayed power as well. When I saw how he fought Clara and Demetria I knew Mirza was strong, but… he was holding back?! It's almost like the Mirza who fought Demetria then and the Mirza who is crushing Clyde now aren't even the same person! The blonde healer turned to me, "Silver! What just happened?"

"I don't know," I replied, still too much in shock. I looked at Mirza and Fubuki and I felt a rift forming between us. It was the same as back then! I'm powerless to do anything! Taking a few breaths to regain my composure I turned to the trainer who just took out two Pokémon in the blink of an eye, "Mirza… what just happened…?"

"We won, _that_ 's what happened!" Mirza grinned as he replied my question. He then turned serious and faced Clyde, "I'm sorry. I told you I didn't want to fight you but you left me no choice. I know how much you care for your Pokémon so I won't finish them off, but… why you?"

"I a'mit defeat Mir!" Clyde laughed. He then snapped his fingers and from out of the curtain of trees a huge Tauros trotted out towards us. An unconscious girl was lying on its back and in the Pokémon's mouth appeared to be something that looked like a small box, "Think o' these as yer prize fer beatin' me today. She was a persistent gal I tell ya, but —"

"What did you do to her?! Answer me!" Mirza yelled, suddenly furious. Was she someone he knew? If so, why is she with Clyde? I felt a shuffle beside me and saw that Yellow had taken a few steps back. Looking at the scene in front of me, I decided that she actually made a good move and took a few steps back as well, "I wasn't giving it my all knowing it was you, but this… tell me one reason why I shouldn't finish you off for good! You have one chance so make it count!"

"'Cause I sav'd 'er life," Clyde replied calmly, unfazed by Mirza's outburst. Mirza, on the other hand, slumped down after that. I know I can't trust him but something about Clyde's tone made me believe it was true… "We 'ad a battle and she won, but 'nstead o' finishin' off me Rap'dash she stopp'd attackin'. That's when _he_ jump'd in on our battle an' left 'er like that. She woulda died Mirza. She woulda died…"

"So… _he_ is in on this as well…?" Mirza finally spoke up after a moment of silence. Who was he talking about? Clyde nodded, helping his Tauros lower the girl and place her gently on the grassy field. Her jet black hair was tied in twin ponytails and seemed slightly charred. Her black blouse seemed charred as well, and she was covered from head to toe in the cuts and burns. I didn't know who the person Mirza and Clyde were talking about was but one thing was obvious: he sure put her out of commission. Mirza unclenched his fists before turning to the man in front of him, "I can tell you're not lying… thank you for saving her."

"Heh, I 'as just returnin' da favor, really. She protect'd me Rap'dash so I protect'd her," Clyde grinned, placing the box beside the girl. He then returned both of his defeated Pokémon and got on his Tauros. Finally, he turned to Mirza with a grim expression on his face, "If yer thinkin' bout continuin' the fight, I wish yeh the best o' luck kid! Yer other prize should help ya fight 'em!"

"Yeah, and seeing the shape she's in, I guess we're going to need it…" Mirza muttered almost inaudibly. Clyde rode off on his Tauros and Mirza ran over to the unconscious girl, Yellow close behind him. I followed them at a slower pace, trying to figure out what was going on around here. Ever since Mirza showed up life has become so confusing… I could see Mirza checking her pulse and sighing in relief, "At least you're still alive…"

"Mirza?" Yellow began hesitantly. I had reached the two of them and, now that I got a closer look, saw that the girl was beaten up more than I first thought she was. Her clothes weren't just charred, they were heavily torn as well. The cuts that I saw earlier turned out to be much bigger and deeper than I first thought they were and her breathing was irregular. She didn't look like she would… "Who is she and what's going on?"

"You're right… I owe you guys an explanation, but help me move her to a more covered area first alright?" Mirza asked in an almost monotone. Yellow and I both nodded and, without another word, helped carry her to the safe covers the trees provided us. The girl was much lighter than she looked, which got me wondering. Before I could say anything about it, however, Mirza plopped down on the grass beside her and, gesturing for us to sit down as well, began, "Her name's Tara, and the two of us have actually been training together for a long time when we were younger…"

* * *

 **-= 3** **rd** **Person POV =-**

"Her name's Tara, and the two of us have actually been training together for a long time when we were younger…"

At this revelation, both Yellow and Silver gasped in shock. Mirza, expecting this, smiled grimly at their reactions before turning back to his unconscious friend.

"Alright, so she's your childhood friend right?" Silver finally broke the silence. Mirza only nodded in response, "So where does she come into the story and who exactly are we fighting here? They're stronger than you first let on and from the looks of it, you're acquainted with both that Demetria girl and Clyde. What's going on Mirza?"

"I'll tell you all about that in a minute," Mirza began, closing his eyes and allowing the cool breeze to sway his hair slightly. After a minute or two, he opened his eyes again and looked both Yellow and Silver straight in the eye, "But before that, I need to ask the two of you a question of my own. Tell me: do you know about the Black Sun event ten years ago?"

"You know about that?!" Silver exclaimed in shock, shocking the other two by his sudden loud response. Mirza recovered quickly and nodded in response, causing the red head to go deep in thoughts, "I admit I don't know much about it, and the little things that I _do_ know about it I know because big sis talked about it. Around the time big sis and I escaped the Masked Man's clutches there was a huge calamity in a faraway region. Other than that, however, I can't say that I know much about it…"

"I see…" Mirza trailed off, before turning to the blonde healer, "How about you Yellow? Do you know anything about it?"

"I…" Yellow began hesitantly, but the older boy could already guess her answer from her tone alone, "I've heard stories about it, but all this time I thought that it were just stories…"

"Very well… at least it'll make telling the story a bit easier seeing as you two at least know of the event…" Mirza began. He took a deep breath before he began his story, "I'm afraid it wasn't just stories, and I am living proof that the event really occurred. The night that has been dubbed 'the night of the black sun' happened about ten years ago, and the reason why it's called that is due to the huge amount of deaths on that night… It was a normal day. Or at least, it was as normal as all of us thought it would be. That would all change by the end of the day…"

* * *

 **-= Mirza's POV (flashback) =-**

 _My sister and I had been training outside in a nearby open field all day, perfecting our combo techniques and commands in a way so that our opponents wouldn't be able to predict our attacks, giving us a fraction of a second advantage that could make the difference between winning or losing a battle. It was a calm afternoon with not a single cloud in sight. A gentle zephyr like breeze prevented us from getting overwhelmed by the heat wave that had occurred over the past few days._

 _"Gible go! Offensive formation T32!" my sister commanded. Her little Gible dashed forward with a battle cry and, just as my Trapinch braced herself for the blow, the little land shark jumped backwards and let loose a bluish purple stream. I cursed as I realized the frontal assault was just a bluff and she was aiming to hit me with Dragon Pulse from the very start._

 _"Starlight! Earth Power Gamma Four!" I commanded in return. Starlight's body radiated a golden yellow light before she stomped on the ground, making the very earth erupt. The eruption protected her from Gible's Dragon Pulse. Once the dust had cleared I smiled at my little sister who, in turn, looked horrified, "Not bad! You've really improved a lot you know! You actually almost got me this time!"_

 _"Yeah, but…" my sister trailed off, pouting in disappointed. I laughed at her expression, which got her attention long enough to let her finish her sentence, "I'm not good enough! I still can't break through Starlight's defense!"_

 _"Hey cheer up! I've been training quite a bit longer than you have so it's only natural that I'm a bit better than you are!" I laughed as I ruffled her hair, trying to cheer her up. As usual, she over dramatically tried to dodge me, failing miserably, before giving in and pouting. Seeing her expression I couldn't help but laugh again before flinging my arm around her shoulder and guiding her gently back to our home, "It's getting late so let's go home!"_

 _"Alright!" my sister cheered as she ran off ahead with her Gible, leaving me and Starlight behind. I laughed seeing my hyperactive sister running ahead without a single worry on her mind. That was to change very soon._

 _I didn't know how long we were out, but I did know something was wrong. I jolted up to the sound of bricks crashing to the ground, fear filled screams coming from all around me and the frantic footsteps of many people as if they were all running away from something. When I looked up, I realized why they were in such a hurry._

 _Seven trainers and their Pokémon were running rampage in our town. The crimson flames that rose from the ruins of our houses reached for the skies above, obscuring my view from the scene yet my eyes were glued onto them and I couldn't turn away even if I wanted to. The orange hue that the flames colored their bodies almost made them look majestic, but they weren't! They weren't majestic! They were..._

 _"Mirza!" a familiar voice rang through the smoke, and I turned hopefully to the direction of the voice. There, albeit a bit bruised and covered in dust, were my parents who were running straight for me._

 _"Mom! Dad!" I cried out, running to them. I gulped, before admitting the hard truth, "My sister and I got separated..."_

 _"What?!" dad shouted, causing me to cringe slightly. His voice wasn't filled with anger like I had expected it to be, but with horror, making me cringe even more once I realized that. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he turned back to me, "Mirza, you have to listen to me very carefully alright? You have to find your sister, get out of here and find somewhere safe and hide there, do you understand?"_

 _"But..." I began, terrified. Before I could continue I was cut off by one of the seven trainers who finally noticed us._

 _"Toxicroak..." the trainer muttered, raising a finger in the air before pointing it straight at us. I was frozen with fear: this person meant business! A bipedal, frog like Pokémon jumped in front of the trainers, the stingers on its arms extended and coated with poison and a malicious grin on its face, "Poison... Jab..."_

 _I closed my eyes and covered my face, bracing myself for the attack that never came. I heard a groan and felt a warm liquid splatter on my face and arms and, letting curiosity drive me, opened my eyes. The moment I did, however, I wished I didn't. The Pokémon's left stinger was in my mom's stomach while the right had pierced my dad's chest. No..._

 _"What are you waiting for Mirza? Go!" Dad managed while making sure the Pokémon didn't come after me. I stood there, frozen on the spot, and it wasn't until dad yelled at me that I regained the ability to move, "I SAID GO! AND DON'T YOU DARE LOOK BACK!"_

 _Forcing myself not to look back, I turned and ran as fast as I could, all the while searching the area and calling out to my sister. After ten minutes of this I was exhausted and out of breath, but I still hadn't found her. It was then that I heard a whimpering sound on the other side of the wall I was leaning against, and the voice that I heard next made me both tense up and let out a sigh of relief._

 _"Mirza? Is that you?" a scared, shaky voice came from the other side of the wall. I recognized it as my sister's, and from the sound of it it looked like she had been hiding and crying here ever since we got separated, "Get me out of here! Please big bro!"_

 _"Don't worry!" I called out, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. I enlarged a Luxury Ball from my belt and took a few steps back, "Stand back! I'll break the wall down! Starlight! Earth Power Alpha Seven!"_

 _"Stop! It's too dangerous!" Before I could release my Pokémon, however, somebody grabbed me from behind and tried to drag me away from the wall. I recognized the voice as a friend of my mom, and his hold was strong, but I couldn't let him take me away! "You could cause a cave in and kill her! Let us handle it, you have to get out of here!"_

 _"No! That's my sister in there!" I shouted while trying to struggle free from his grasp. My struggling was so bad that he had to call for help and, with the help of three other people dragging me away, they finally succeeded. I didn't stop struggling or shouting, however, "Let me go! That's my sister! I can't leave her! NOOOOOO!"_

* * *

 **-= 3** **rd** **Person POV (Present time) =-**

"I never saw my sister again, and I thought I had lost her forever on that day along with my parents…" Mirza finished in a pained and strained voice, "That was, at least, until I fought her earlier today…"

"So… that sister of yours…" Silver began after a prolonged period of silence. Yellow was holding back her tears and Mirza didn't answer his question directly, instead having his eyes closed all the while. After another moment of tense and heavy silence Silver tried to finish his sentence, "Was she…?"

"Yes," Mirza interrupted him before he could formulate his question. The black head opened his eyes and turned to Silver with a solemn look on his face, "Demetria is my sister."

"But…" Silver trailed off, carefully choosing his words to not upset or anger the older and stronger trainer in front of him, having already witnessed how powerful he was first hand, "Does this mean… that you're one of them? And if you're not… Why? Why fight your sister?"

Before anyone could respond or react, Silver felt something lifting him up by the collar and slamming him onto the tree trunk. Flinching slightly, the red head was more surprised to see _who_ had pinned him to the tree.

"Tara!" Mirza exclaimed in shock. The person who had pinned Silver to the tree was, indeed, Tara. At some point she had regained consciousness and reacted in the blink of an eye. Silver was more shocked by the fact that she could stand in her condition than of her reaction, so how she managed to lift him up truly boggled him, "You shouldn't force yourself!"

"Shut up and look who's talking!" Tara shouted back from over her shoulder, shutting the black head up immediately. Turning her gaze back to Silver, the red head froze seeing her intense glare, "You! If you're thinking that we're the enemy then I can gladly make your wish come true! What do you know of how we feel having to fight those precious to us?! What do you know of the pain in our hearts knowing that to battle them we could hurt those who mean the world to us?! What do you know of what we've gone through?! What do you know of what Mirza has had to go through all this time, losing his parents, sister, _everything_ on the same day?! Well?! Answer me!"

Before Silver even got the chance to answer, a fear filled, ear splitting screech came from the direction of the forest. Tara lowered the red head, having her attention focused on the source of that sound. The other three trainers, however, froze at the sound of the screech, instantly recognizing it. Silver was the first to react, swiftly grabbing Feraligatr's Poké Ball and dashing in the direction of the sound at full speed.

"Big sis!"

* * *

 **And a part of Mirza's past is revealed! Of course, being the cliffhanger loving guy all of you should already know that I am, I haven't revealed everything nor have I revealed some crucial information regarding Mirza now have I? Even so, this chapter was rather difficult to write nonetheless due to… external factors… I'm not going to end with a stream of questions like chapters one and three (let's do that with the odd chapters shall we?) seeing as I think there are already more than enough questions that should come to your mind after reading this chapter… trust me, it'll be worse next time! And if you don't like me for the cliffhanger this time around… then you'll** _ **hate**_ **me for the one that's coming up! As far as I can tell you right now, starting next chapter the plot really thickens (though I think that should've been obvious)! Fun fact: unlike Specialventure Academy, where I actually think up the plot as I go, I plan out the plot of Night of the Black Sun very far ahead. As a matter of fact, I got the plot up to chapter 7 all figured out already! But no, no spoilers xD! At least not for this story, but maybe the reference lists have spoilers for the series of which they come from xD**

 **References… references… now that I think about it, not that many actually… ah, right! I know that both Pyro Blizzard and Night Blade Storm aren't real moves, but when I thought of them I was thinking of them being commands referring to an already prepared string of moves, get what I'm saying? There actually** _ **are**_ **some references here now that I think about it… let's see… Pyro Blizzard's original name was supposed to be Fire Blizzard, which is the combination technique of Nagumo Haruya and Suzuno Fuusuke in Inazuma Eleven (but let's face it: Fire Blizzard doesn't sound all that cool right?). Night Blade Storm is taken from Digimon Rumble Arena 2's Duskmon's finishing move: Gheist Blade Storm. The game is really good so if you have the console I really recommend it! Having said that, it probably won't be as awesome for non Digimon fans… Weavile's nickname should be obvious as to what it's referring to, and if it isn't I know for a fact that you haven't checked the first quote of the Inazuma Eleven section on my bio! If I'm not mistaken, 'Fubuki' means either 'storm' or 'snowstorm', so it's pretty fitting for a Weavile don't you think? Mirza, Tara and Demetria… they're all the names of the main characters in my first ever story! It's a coincidence that I also happen to know at least one person in real life whose name is one of the three! There's actually one more character from that story who will make an appearance next chapter but I'll leave the identity a secret until then! The (almost) instant healing properties of the food Mirza gave Yellow and Silver was inspired by the senzu beans from the Dragon Ball series. Yeah, that's all of the obvious ones… but definitely not all of them!**

 **That's all for now I guess… I'm going to wrap up** **Crimson Sunlight** **seeing as there are only two chapters left! In the meantime, please feel free to review, follow and favorite this story! You have no idea how much it means to me and how much it motivates me to keep writing even in these difficult times! And don't forget to vote in the poll that will be going up soon!**


	5. The True Power of the Enemy! (Part 1)

**You know those times when you got a really good idea for a chapter in your head but you can't publish it because it's too far ahead? That's what I had with this chapter! I've already had the idea of today's cliffhanger in the back of my head for the past few** ** _weeks_** **so I'm glad I finally got the chance to publish it! I originally planned to work on this chapter _after_ my mid-terms had ended (the end of next week to be specific), but I needed to get my mind off of some things *sigh* for now** **…** **let's just say that I _over_ estimated my own abilities and _under_ estimated virtually everything else** **… in other words: I pushed myself too hard xD like always… Fun fact: today's cliffhanger is almost completely the same as a cliffhanger in the first ever story I've written, but, since nobody I know has read both (other than Namitaa776 and the person who I suspect Roseflare is)… that should be fine to reveal right? Originally, it was going to be the same, but thanks to a very specific reviewer I had to change it slightly *everybody glares at Roseflare* Either way, if I'm completely honest** **… both cliffhangers are** **pretty cliche, so you _should_ be able to see them coming… *shrugs* though I guess it is fair to warn you up front** **… I'm more confident with this cliffhanger than any of my previous ones, which includes the ones in chapters 3 and 4** **… even _if_ people should be able to see it coming a mile away** **…**

 **I put on my profile that I got into Sword Art Onl** **ine sometime last month correct? Well, after watching the first season I realized just how similar** **Night of the Black Sun** **'s Mirza is to Sword Art Online's Kirito! So I guess that every scene involving Mirza would be a reference to Kirito from now on xD truthfully, I'm surprised nobody noticed that yet… Sword Art Online _is_ pretty popular after all** **…** **just for the record: the resemblances between Mirza and Kirito was _not_ intended (which should be obvious seeing as I started writing this end of July while I started watching SAO in September) xD Mirza's past is a triple reference actually… partly from Naruto as to his parents sacrificing himself, partly from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Alister (do you spell his name like that…?) as to a destroyed village and Mirza's sister taken away being a reference to, again, Alister ****_and_** **Phantom Thief Pokemon 7's Hiori. The name of the night is actually a reference to Digimon Savers. Yup, nothing Inazuma Eleven related this time around xD**

 **DaPokemonMadster** **: I'm glad you liked how Clyde turned out! I put extra effort in his personality after all. I see you got quite a bit of the references from last time! You won't fall for my mind games eh? I honestly doubt that, considering your reaction when I tried to show you the tip of the iceberg xD as a matter of fact, except for one, you fell for _every single trap I set_ , so I'm sorry for not believing you when you said that you won't fall for my mind games xD!** **Then again** **…** **perhaps _you're_ the one who is playing mind games with _me_ by pretending to fall for those traps and you actually know the truth all along!** **Or even scarier: you already know the plot word for word until the finale while I can only see as far as chapter 8! *gasp*** **Wouldn't that be a big plot twist xD? A** **nyways… even the great** **DaPokemonMadster** **hasn't realized it yet it seems… I sure hope you realize it soon though! And trust me… more than enough hints will be spread! Or, as you might say, more than enough mind games xD let's find out how off you are! Though** **…** **just a friendly warning: if what you posted in your review is your honest opinion** **… then** **… you're pretty off… But you'll see that for yourself soon enough!**

 **GTheTecher/GTheTecher2.0** **: I'm glad, cause I needed a move change for the cliffhanger today! Ah, a game designer eh? Good luck! It didn't sound like a threat at all! I just didn't know if it was a plea for help or, lacking a better word, a test, that's all. I'm not _that_ almighty you know xD thing is, I was actually thinking of three anime based on your reaction (but they were not popular at all so I didn't think they were the ones, plus I forgot the title of each one xD) and, although I've watched AoT before, I didn't really feel the hype that was going on around the web about it. The premise is good but I never got myself to continue watching it** **…** **W** **hy don't we find out? C** **ommands** **… I wasn't originally planning to, but now that I think about it… it would add another layer in the mystery, which would help throw off some of my readers, so** **…** **sure! I'll try it out! Oh, and I forgot to mention that I didn't really know the role of the administrator, so** **… I hope you can live with how I portrayed him, and if you can't then I'm really sorry and I'll change him up in future appearances!**

 **Painted Lady Bug** **: To tell you the truth: you _weren't_ supposed to know that actually** **…** **Although the plot twist of making Demetria and Tara one and the same is very tempting (especially to throw off my other readers, most notably DaPokemonMadster and Roseflare), I'm not going to do that. Demetria and Tara are two different people, and there's a reason for that. Of the five series I'm in love with, Inazuma Eleven is the least known so I can't really blame you. I guess I am, in a way, promoting the series through ****Night of the Black Sun** **. I've never heard of that but it definitely seems interesting! Yup, he meant Blue and she's in danger… I honestly thought it was already clear from the ending last time but oh well…**

 **Roseflare** **: I admit I'm curious, yeah… HOLY MOTHER OF ARCEUS! _You're_ Roseflare?! But** **…** **Your writing style is so different! And "Roseflare"? Come on! I honestly thought you were more creative than that! Please don't kill me though! I respect you and you know that *bows down* xD!** **Anyway** **… why thank you :3 yeah, and I honestly thought you of all people would be able to figure it out. Alright alright, laugh at me for using the same names the protagonists in my first ever story had! I found it a pretty good Easter Egg actually** **… thing is, you knew about Zeta _17_ , not Zeta _29_ , so** **… there are quite a bit of differences** **… but yeah, you're right on one thing though, I admit that much** **… let's find out what that "one thing" is why don't we? And don't worry, I'll impress you one way or another! That's a promise! Yeah you're right, Night of the Black Sun _is_ my best** **… or at least** **… the one I put most time and effort into** **… until my crossover comes out next month that is** **…**

 **Disclaimer! I own nothing but the plot and OCs Mirza and Tara! This includes anything related to Pokémon, any of the series I reference in my story (whether it is on purpose or accidentally), Namitaa776's OC and GTheTecher's OC which will both be making an appearance today! Yeah, spoiler, but I still need to say it in the disclaimer right?**

* * *

 **-= 3rd Person POV =-**

"Silver! Wait up!" Yellow cried out as she, along with Mirza and Tara, were running after the red head.

"I can't slow down! Big sis is in trouble!" Silver shouted over his shoulder, already enlarging a Poké Ball and throwing it in the air, "Murkrow!"

"Idiot!" Mirza yelled, leaping onto Silver and preventing him from taking to the skies on his Murkrow. The two continued to roll for a bit until Mirza managed to pin Silver to the ground, effectively immobilizing him.

"What are you doing?" Silver shouted as soon as he regained the ability to talk again. The red head was glaring at the older boy and, although they could understand why he was so angry, the two girls shuffled a few steps away from the boys, "Big sis is in trouble and I need to get there and help her! If you're our friend then you should let me go and help me!"

"And what were you planning to do once you got there?" Mirza replied calmly, seemingly unfazed by Silver's outburst. The combination of Mirza's question and his tone were enough to calm Silver down, "Let's assume she's in a battle right now… You don't know who she's fighting, you don't know how powerful her opponent is and, more importantly, you have no plan of action do you? You saw how powerful Demetria is! All of us combined our attacks and we _still_ couldn't defeat her! We barely got out of it alive! And let me tell you something: she was holding back big time! If you were to rush in like you were about to then there wouldn't even be a guarantee that you would last more than two seconds against her! I understand how you feel with Blue being a sisterly figure to you and all, but you can't afford to rush in like that!"

"Then…" Silver began, biting his lower lip. It was only after Mirza had said all of that that the red head realized how reckless he was, "What are we supposed to do? We can't just do nothing!"

"I know… and trust me: we _will_ do something!" Mirza replied calmly, standing up and turning to the black haired girl, who nodded in understanding, "You know what to do…"

"Right!" Tara replied, before closing her eyes and focusing her attention on something. Yellow and Silver could only watch, puzzled and not understanding what was going on. A few seconds later, Tara opened her eyes again and smiled, "Got it! Follow me!"

"Lead the way!" Mirza replied with a grin, running after the girl. Yellow and Silver hesitated for a moment, seeing as Tara ran into the curtain of trees, but decided to follow the two anyway. While avoiding the trees, Mirza tried to explain to the two Pokédex holders what was happening, "You see, Tara can tune in with her surroundings, effectively pinpointing where somebody is and the fastest route to them. Her judgments can be trusted, so if she's going this way then I'll follow her without a second thought. It's almost like she has a compass in her head!"

"Heads up! There's a total of seven people up ahead!" Tara called out from over her shoulder. Yellow sighed in relief after hearing that.

"So that means the others managed to get together again right?" Yellow asked cheerfully to the group. She was met with silence, and the sliver of hope she had felt disappeared instantly once she realized the situation.

"They're fighting someone… but who are they fighting and which one of the Pokédex holders is missing?" Mirza finally broke the silence. A wave of horror washed over Silver and Yellow, who both picked up the pace and dashed faster, forcing the other two to run faster as well. The older male turned to the black haired girl again, "You can tell who they're fighting right? Is it Demetria?"

"No…" Tara replied grimly. By then, the group of four trainers could see the curtain of trees thin out, and they knew they had reached the others. Tara turned to Mirza, "It's not Demetria… it's —"

Tara never finished her sentence. Their attention was diverted by an explosion, followed by a brown haired girl flying at them. Silver moved in the blink of an eye and caught her, but the two of them kept moving until he crashed into a tree. Grimacing slightly, he smiled as he saw that the girl was still breathing, "You're alright… big sis…"

"Silver!" Yellow called out, already running to the red head, but was stopped by Mirza.

"He's fine, but I don't think you can afford to worry about him right now," Mirza muttered, startling the blonde. He turned her around and continued, "Because you're going to need all your worry for yourself! Look!"

Yellow's eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the scene in front of her. A sandy, open field with numerous craters spread across. Along with Blue, who was with Silver, Yellow could see Ruby lying against a tree trunk, Sapphire lying face down a few meters away from him, Emerald on a boulder, Green was in a crater and Gold was lying against the boulder Emerald was on. All of their Pokémon were scattered across the area as well, every last one of them had lost consciousness. Not a single one of them were moving.

"No… Please don't tell me…" Yellow choked on her breath, barely able to keep herself together as the scene in front of her truly reached her, "They can't…"

"Don't worry, they're alive…" Tara tried to reassure the blonde, but it was barely reaching her. Instead, she turned her attention to Mirza, "We're in trouble! The person who did this was —"

"My my, so Demetria didn't finish you off after all huh? Guess that's to be expected though…" a female voice rang through the area, and a figure appeared from out of the smoke caused by one of the explosions. A blonde haired girl about the same height as Tara walked into the clearing, a light blue colored Gardevoir on her right and a Togekiss flying overhead. She wore a crimson vest over a cyan shirt and dark teal pants. Unlike the Pokédex holders, who were all covered in dirt and bruises, this girl didn't seem like she had been anywhere _near_ a battle. A dark smile appeared on her face as she talked, "But seeing as you're my opponent, at least it wouldn't bore me to death like those worthless trash over there did right?"

"What?!" Yellow shouted, about to charge at her but was restrained by Tara at the last second.

"Tara…" Mirza began calmly, his eyes never leaving the blonde girl in front of them. Tara, albeit still restraining Yellow, turned to look at him to indicate that she was listening, "You know who she is right?"

"Yeah… it's… believe it or not, but that's Lyn…" Tara admitted, albeit slightly reluctant. Yellow stopped her struggling, but Mirza only sighed after hearing that name, "She's not like the ones we've faced before! According from the records, she's among their strongest trainers!"

"I've heard that an annoying rat went and stole our records… so that rat's you…" the blonde girl, apparently named Lyn, muttered under her breath, glaring at Tara, "I admit that that's quite the feat you've accomplished. However… if you think that's enough to stand a chance against us then you're sadly mistaken."

"You haven't been a part for a long time right?" Mirza suddenly asked Lyn, getting her attention, "What did they do to you? How did they brainwash you? What did they promise to give you if you worked for them?"

"You stole our records and you don't know?" Lyn asked with an undertone of amusement clearly distinguishable. She sighed before she continued, "Since I'll crush you after this, it won't hurt to let you in on a little secret of ours… none of us were _forced_ to join, we all decided to join through our own free will! We _chose_ to join!"

"What?!" Mirza exclaimed in shock. Clenching his hands into fists, he let out all of his anger, "Don't play games with me! That's a lie!"

"No… it's the truth…" another voice interrupted. Mirza, Tara and Yellow looked up to see a Garchomp decent from the skies, and Demetria jumped off of her Pokémon right before the land shark landed on the ground. Dusting herself off, she turned to Mirza, "It's nice to see you again… big brother…"

"You… remember…?" Mirza managed, still in a state of shock. Demetria nodded stiffly in response, "But before… you said you didn't know anyone with the name of Demetria —"

"Not _that_ again!" Demetria interrupted, annoyed, "Look… that name is only a reminder of the pitifully pathetic girl I once was! I'm not the same girl you abandoned all those years ago!"

"That's not true! I didn't abandon you and you know that!" Mirza exclaimed, startled. Before he could say or do anything more, however, Demetria interrupted him again.

"Save it! You don't know how I felt back then!" the dirty blonde haired girl shouted, pointing a finger straight at her brother, "The only reason why I'm here is so I can finish you off for good once and for all!"

"Hold up just a moment there," Lyn interrupted, placing a hand on Demetria's shoulder. Once she knew she had the full attention of everybody, she rummaged through her bag, before throwing several items at Mirza and Tara, "There, use them."

"These are…" Mirza began, examining the items he got, "Max Revives and Max Elixirs… why would you give these to us?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's no fun battling you two if you're not even at full strength," Lyn shrugged, laughing slightly. She turned serious and looked Mirza straight in the eyes, "Don't get any ideas; even if you're at full strength you _still_ wouldn't be a match for us."

"Don't… underestimate us… Don't play games with me! We're stronger than you give us credit for!" Silver suddenly appeared alongside his Feraligatr, glaring at Lyn, "You hurt big sis didn't you? Well now it's time to pay up! Feraligatr! Hydro Cannon!"

"Don't do it!" Mirza called out, horrified. The moment the words left his mouth, however, he already knew it was too late. Feraligatr had already condensed a huge amount of water and fired it straight at Lyn before Mirza could do anything to stop him.

"For once… my brother is right…" Demetria smirked, before releasing her Magnezone, "You know what to do… Defense Formation M6…"

Magnezone floated in front of its trainer, before being enveloped in a bright light and a multi colored layer appearing around it. The Hydro Cannon attack collided with the layer around Magnezone, but it didn't look like it was causing any damage to the Magnet Area Pokémon. As a matter of fact, Magnezone fired a bright white colored beam of its own straight at Silver and Feraligatr right after being hit, connecting and sending the both of them flying.

"Silver!" Yellow exclaimed, before turning to look at Magnezone, who was perfectly fine, "What… was that?"

"Mirror Coat…" Mirza muttered, receiving a triumphant nod of agreement from Demetria, "A move that reflects any special attack back to where it came from with double the power. Hydro Cannon is a special attack, so…"

"So the red head basically attacked himself with twice the force he used against me," Demetria finished triumphantly, "Now you see? I'm no longer the same girl I used to be! I used to be powerless when facing you, but now… even if you're able to see my attacks, you can't do anything about them! I've gotten to a level that you can't even imagine existed!"

"Tara…" Mirza sighed, grabbing the attention of said girl, "It doesn't look like my dear sister will let me face anyone other than her, so… can I leave that Lyn girl to you?"

"Yeah…" Tara muttered, enlarging a Premier Ball from her bracelet, "I can at least hold her off until you help me out."

"How about me?" Yellow suddenly jumped in, "I won't forgive them for hurting my friends! Who do I fight?"

"Yellow…" Tara began, slightly hesitant, "You're not fighting anyone —"

"What?" the blonde girl exclaimed in shock, "You can't expect me to just let them go right?"

"No, Tara's right… Yellow, your title is the Healer right?" Mirza added before said girl could respond. Yellow nodded with clenched teeth, "Then your role is to get to the others and make sure that all of them get the recovery they need. Tara and I can take care of these two…"

"But —" Yellow began, but was interrupted before she could even formulate her question.

"Right now…" Mirza turned to the blonde and smiled, "Your friends need your help more than we do… go! Tara and I will be fine!"

"A-Alright…" Yellow gave in bitterly, before running off.

"That's strange…" Tara muttered, as she took a defensive stance beside Mirza. The boy glanced at her with a curious look, "Why didn't they attack Yellow?"

"Why would we?" Lyn laughed, having heard Tara's question, "It's not like that blondie's worth our time now is she?"

"Lyn…" Demetria suddenly interrupted, grabbing the attention of all three trainers, "With all due respect… don't get in my way. My brother's mine!"

"You're as cooperative as always, aren't you?" Lyn shrugged, before sighing, "Very well… but if you haven't crushed him before I crushed his friend, I will go after your target!"

"Likewise…" Demetria smirked, as she threw a Dusk Ball in the air. Mirza tensed, recognizing it and already having a bad feeling as to which Pokémon was in there. His eyes widened in horror once he saw that it was empty. A decoy. A loud roar followed, coming from the ground instead of the skies, "Garchomp! Attack Formation Phi Five!"

"What's Phi Five?" Tara exclaimed in shock as Garchomp hid itself within a dust cloud.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much seeing as you're going to be just fine…" Mirza muttered calmly, albeit frowning all the same, "She's after me after all…"

"You got that right!" Demetria shouted, before pointing straight at Mirza, "It's over big brother! Garchomp! Finish him off!"

The next thing everybody knew, the ground below Mirza's feet cracked open, and Garchomp himself appeared from underground, about to sink his teeth in Mirza's legs. Mirza, however, wasn't on the ground anymore, as he was soaring ten feet above the ground on top of Starlight. Looking down at his sister, something was clearly bothering him.

"If that's all you got then you might as well give up now!" Mirza shouted from high in the sky. To his surprise, however, Demetria's lips curved into a dark smirk. The air tensed, and Mirza knew what was coming; he didn't need to look up to see the Draco Meteor attack come crashing down at them, "Starlight!"

With a lot of difficulty, Starlight managed to evade every last meteor that came soaring from the heavens above. Panting heavily, both Mirza and Starlight were relieved that they came out of that attack unharmed.

"Hey, not bad… not bad at all…" a sinister voice behind them made both Mirza and Starlight freeze up. In the shuffle to avoid the Draco Meteor, the both of them fell right into Demetria's trap. They knew there was no time to dodge anymore as soon as they heard Demetria finish, "But as I was saying: 'not bad' isn't good enough anymore! Not against me at least! It's over!"

* * *

 **-= Tara's POV =-**

"Togekiss! Aura Sphere!"

That Lyn girl's Togekiss fired a condensed ball of energy straight at me, and I barely managed to evade it in time. Sure Mirza said I didn't have to worry about his sister, but Lyn sure wasn't a pushover either! The moment Mirza left the ground and continued the battle with Demetria in the air, I barely had time to breath and think up a strategy to face this girl myself. She's good… real good…

"Gallade! Psycho Cut!" I commanded, as my Gallade's right arm extended into a pinkish purple colored scythe, before he dashed straight at Lyn's Pokémon.

"You seriously think a straightforward attack like that will pose a challenge? To _me_ no less?" Lyn mocked, slightly amused. Turning to her Gardevoir, she nodded, "Go ahead… use Shadow Ball…"

"Who said it was a straightforward attack?" I smirked, grabbing Lyn's attention. My Gallade himself smirked too, and disappeared a fraction of a second before the dark orb fired by her Gardevoir was about to hit him. The next moment, Gallade reappeared behind Lyn, "Checkmate!"

"On the contrary…" the tone of Lyn's voice worried me. A flash of light from her Togekiss, before it enveloped itself in electricity and charged straight at my Gallade, catching him off guard and sending him flying. I recognized that move as Volt Tackle, but… how…? Lyn turned to me with a triumphant smirk on her face, "I should be the one to say that…"

"How did your Togekiss use Volt Tackle?" I muttered under my breath. That light! Then it dawned on me; and the wide smirk on Lyn's face was proof that I was right, "That light… it was Metronome… wasn't it? Why bet everything on luck like that?"

"Looks like somebody has done their homework!" Lyn applauded, laughing darkly, "Sure it was a big risk, but it was a big risk worth paying seeing the results! It's over! Togekiss! Gardevoir!"

* * *

 **-= Yellow's POV =-**

"Easy there…" I said cautiously as I helped Gold get to the others. I bit my lower lip, seeing how injured everybody was. Why? Why did everybody had to hurt my friends? I shook my head to try and clear my mind of that thought and asked Gold a question I found was more important right now, "What exactly happened?"

"I think you heard it… senior Blue's scream…" Gold grimaced as he sat down. He was covered in the bruises and it made me feel so powerless. I gulped, before nodding in response, "I rushed over to see what happened. By the time I got here, Fashion Lad and Croissant Head were both down already."

"Hey!" Ruby and Emerald exclaimed angrily at their nicknames. Despite the situation, I giggled at their reactions. Gold, however, waved them off before continuing.

"Wild Girl and senior Green appeared shortly after…" Gold managed, but I guess the toll of the battle finally got to him; he cringed in pain, "We didn't stand a chance against her… not even when we used _all_ of our Pokémon to fight her at the same time…"

"If only Silver, Mirza, Tara and I had been here sooner…" I managed through gritted teeth. That's it! You mess with my friends, you mess with me! I was already on my feet but Blue placed a firm hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Don't go Yellow! They're too powerful!" I've never seen Blue that serious before, not even when she sent me on that mission to save Red… Red…

"If only Red was here…" I muttered in a deflated tone. There was a short moment of silence, which was broken when I heard the sound of trees crashing into the ground. When I looked up I saw a battered and bruised Tara, barely able to stand, panting heavily among the debris of the trees. She was grasping her left shoulder in pain and I already had a feeling she had dislocated her shoulder. The next thing I knew something came crashing down from the sky, and I gasped when I realized what it was. Mirza had fallen off of Starlight who, in turn, was encased in a block of ice herself, totally immobilized, "No…"

"Well… that sure was disappointing…" the girl I remember Tara calling Lyn sighed, walking up to us beside Demetria. I felt my blood boil with anger seeing their faces and knowing what they did to my friends, "I had certainly hoped they could at least lasted a little bit longer… I mean… it's only been a minute and the two of you are barely able to stand as it is!"

"Enough dawdling!" Demetria scolded, enlarging an Ultra Ball and releasing the Pokémon inside, "Tyranitar! Finish them off why don't you? Offensive Formation CM14!"

The monster that she used before appeared again with a thud, releasing a whole barrage of sharp and heavy rocks straight at Mirza and Tara. Neither of them looked like they could dodge it, let alone take it head on and live!

"Volt Tackle!"

* * *

 **-= 3rd Person POV =-**

"Volt Tackle!"

An electricity enveloped creature tore through Demetria's attack, knocking down every single rock in the air before crashing into Tyranitar. The Armor Pokémon staggered from the blow as the little ball of electricity jumped back to Yellow. The electricity disappeared, revealing Chuchu to be the user of the attack.

"Beaten by a little electric mouse…" Lyn taunted Demetria, the latter whom huffed in annoyance, "You've really lost your touch now haven't you?"

"Shut up! I don't see you doing anything about it!" Demetria shot back, before glaring at Yellow, "I admit you caught me off guard with that… but it won't happen again!"

"One time…" Yellow muttered in a dangerously low tone, her eyes closed and the temperature of the air around her dropping drastically. Everybody tensed seeing the sudden change in the normally cheerful blonde girl's personality, but were shocked to see that Yellow wasn't the only one who was dangerously calm. The air around Chuchu began crackling with electricity again, and the other Pokédex holders knew what was happening, quickly backing away, "One time too many… I have seen innocent people and Pokémon get hurt before me! My friends and their Pokémon get hurt before me! Well it's going to end right here and now! I'll end it… _we_ will end it with our own two hands! Chuchu! Give it everything you've got! Volt Tackle one more time!"

Chuchu let out a loud battle cry, absorbing all the electricity that was in the air around her previously, before rocketing off in the direction of Lyn and Demetria. The Pokédex holders had to cover their faces to protect themselves from the debris that was send flying due to Chuchu's running, but were watching with high hopes that this would do the trick.

"Way to go senior! Take them down!" Sapphire exclaimed, cringing slightly from her injury but grinning all the same, "That oughta be enough to do it!"

"Think again…" a low voice cut in, grabbing the attention of everybody in the area. This was a new voice, but it spoke again shortly afterwards, "North… Twenty-two… West… Fifty-seven… Iron Tail!"

From out of nowhere, a quadruped cat like Pokémon jumped in Chuchu's path, had his tail glow in a bright white color and swung it with all his might. Chuchu, going at the speed she was going, had no time to change direction, and was sent soaring before crashing into the trees. She fell on the ground, not moving a muscle.

"CHUCHU!" Yellow shrieked in horror and concern, before running to check on her defeated Pokémon. Kneeling down, she hugged the electric mouse tightly, tears streaming down her face, "I am so, so sorry… please… please be alright Chuchu! I'm begging you!"

"That Volt Tackle… it was… impressive…" the same voice from earlier muttered. Mirza, Tara and the Pokédex holders looked up to see a man in his mid twenties. His attire, which consisted of a white tank-top under a tan leather jacket, blue jeans and black combat boots, were sparkling clean and looked brand new. His short, black hair waved in the breeze and his violet eyes were looking straight at Yellow, "I admit that that attack was impressive…"

"Axran! Sir!" Lyn saluted. Demetria saluted soon after, but was visibly hesitant to do so, "With all due respect, there really isn't a reason for you to —"

"I'm afraid there is…" Axran said calmly, interrupting and effectively shutting up Lyn, "Even one on one, you couldn't even defeat them. I must say I'm disappointed in you Lyn… surely someone of your caliber would be able to give us better results!"

"…My apologies…" Lyn huffed through gritted teeth. Although going unnoticed, a small smirk appeared on Demetria's face.

"Change of plans! Demetria!" Axran commanded, and said girl perked up hearing her name being called, "You are relieved of your duties! Go home!"

"What?!" Demetria exclaimed in shock, turning to Axran, "But —"

"Not once but twice you failed to finish off Mirza! You _do_ realize how important your mission was right?" Axran spat back, making Demetria cringe as a result. He turned to Lyn, who gulped nervously, "We'll show Demetria how to properly finish off our target. Restrain him!"

"R-Right!" Lyn sounded nervous, but nevertheless turned to her Gardevoir, "You heard him right? Use Psychic on Mirza!"

Gardevoir's eyes glowed a light blue color, and a layer of the same light blue color enveloped Mirza as he was lifted into midair. Although struggling as hard as he could, the Psychic attack remained as powerful as ever. If anything, it actually got _stronger_.

"Make sure the others won't interfere…" Axran glanced sideways at Lyn, who nodded.

"Togekiss!" Lyn called out, as her Togekiss flew in front of the Pokédex holders, forcing them to back up.

"Mirza… I admit that you are a powerful trainer, and I respect that…" Axran begun, as he enlarged a Great Ball, before releasing the Toxicroak contained within. Mirza, Tara, Green and Silver all already had an idea of what was going to happen, but they couldn't do anything about it thanks to Lyn's Pokémon, "But you've become a nuisance for all of us… moreover, you've refused our offer to join us. I'm afraid that you leave us with no choice; your reign ends here! Aegan… South… Zero Nine… East… Twenty… Poison Jab!"

Mirza couldn't move thanks to Gardevoir's Psychic attack, being locked and suspended in mid air. Tara and the Pokédex holders had Lyn's Togekiss floating in mid air in between them and the battlefield, preventing them from interfering. Everybody was forced to watch helplessly as Axran's Toxicroak closed in on Mirza, stingers extended and coated in lethal poison. The next thing everybody knew, Aegan's Poison Jab pierced through flesh and bone, and the battlefield's ground was splattered with crimson colored blood…

* * *

 **What is with Lyn, Demetria and Axran? How are they so powerful? What is the truth behind how the members of this organization joined said organization? How are the Pokédex holders helpless to face these trainers? It is confirmed Demetria was holding back before; so what is the true extent of her power? How can they be defeated? _Can_ they be defeated at all? When will the boss of the organization appear? When will _Red_ appear in this story? Where is Crystal? Is she alright? Is she _alive_? And the most important question: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT CHAPTER?! or rather… WILL MY (REGULAR) REVIEWERS KEEP ME ALIVE LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO FIND OUT?! (yup, made a safety line there xD)**

 **Let's see** **…** **Darker themes? Check! All out cliffhanger? Got that one down too! Murderous glares from my readers? *gulps* Eh… *looks up from screen* *instantly go back to the keyboard* Definitely!**

 **I _did_ say that today's cliffhanger was one to be reckoned with right? Yeah** **… the only problem with ending with a cliffhanger like this (other than the murderous glares from you guys *shudders*) is that I have to find a way to surpass today's cliffhanger in the future xD! Anyway, as mentioned in Specialventure Academy, this month is a really busy month for me, so please forgive me if I can't publish another chapter until next month.** **With that aside, let's list some of the references and trivia in today's chapter!**

 **The Lyn of my first story was actually a boy, but I changed his gender seeing as the amount of male characters in this story is already really high! The first battle scene involving Demetria, Tara and Mirza has almost the exact same dialogue word for word as the duel in the 91st episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.** **I really wanted Metronome to use Shadow Blast (Shadow Lugia's signature move), but since I wasn't sure if Metronome _can_ use Shadow Moves to begin with (I couldn't find any sources regarding that), and seeing as Shadow ****Pokémon** **cannot be transferred out of the Gamecube games either (I know that _that_ is a fact** **…)** **, I changed it into Volt Tackle instead just to stay on the safe side (and yes, Metronome can become moves like Judgement and Explosion and Roar of Time and Minimize so I'm sure it can become Volt Tackle)… Yellow's speech should be obvious right? It's heavily inspired by her battle against Team Rocket's Sird/Saque/Storc in the FRLG series.** **Axran is a reference to Attack on Titan apparently, but that reference goes to GTheTecher/GTheTecher2.0 seeing as Axran is that user's OC** **… Demetria shares many similarities with Inazuma Eleven GO's Yukimura Hyouga if you go right down to it. Final thing worth noting: as mentioned in both** **Pokémon Diamond and** **Pokémon Y, Toxicroak excretes a poison so vile that even a scratch can be lethal! But that actually should have been obvious right? I mean *cough* "stingers extended and coated in lethal poison" *cough***

 **That's all I guess** **… as always, please follow and favorite this story if you haven't done so already and, if you have some time to spare (which you _should_ seeing as you had time to read this chapter ;) ), leave a review on your thoughts of today's chapter! It really means a lot to me! And don't forget to vote in the poll for my upcoming crossover! The crossover itself will begin on the nineteenth of November, and the poll will remain up until then. Vote for the eight Pokédex holders you want as protagonists! And yes, you get eight votes! I can't emphasize that enough** **… until next time! Take care!**


	6. The True Power of the Enemy! (Part 2)

**Here we are again! I don't think there is much to say, now is there** **…? Hm** **… a friendly reminder: my Pokémon Special and Inazuma Eleven crossover will be going online on the nineteenth! If you haven't done so already, you can go and vote for the eight** **Pokédex** **holders that _you_ want to see play the main role in the crossover** **! But you should hurry as time's running out! Yup, shameless self advertising for the past few chapters xD anyways** **… for those who haven't read chapter twelve of Specialventure Academy: I'm going to be busy after this and, although I will start the crossover as planned on the planned date, I have no idea when chapter seven of this story will be up** **… as a matter of fact, get ready for very unorganized updating in the future (this applies to all my stories)! Also, I am** **not doing a reference list this time around for last chapter seeing as the references that remain might, potentially, spoil the story! So we're heading off into review responses directly!**

 **Roseflare : Yeah, you're right** **… but would it kill you to watch your wording? Truthfully, it's fine for me personally, but other people might misinterpret it ;) just a friendly word of advice! Yeah, you're right** **… both about the wake up slap _and_ about me being predictable** **… I'm too predictable, I admit it! Though perhaps that's going a tad _too_ far** **… anyways** **… although I _am_ combining the Omega and the Zeta, I'm not using everything of both** **… so hopefully I'll still be able to surprise you here and there!**

 **DaPokemonMadster** **: You really like testing my patience huh? You know I can't say whether you're right or wrong _without_ spoiling the story Dx! So I'll just let you "walk around in the dark" until you've found the light switch ;p well, I _did_ say that you fell for _every single trap_ barring one right xD? I was seriously laughing each time I read your review where you thought there was brainwashing involved ;p although that theory _was_ plausible, it had been wrong from the get go xD ah, you like thinking that Demetria is a good guy (or gal in her case I suppose** **…) in disguise huh ;)? Again, your theory** **… it _is_ plausible xD the only question is whether the results are the same with your brainwashing theory or not, right ;D? So let's find out! Worth noting (and something you should keep in mind) is that Demetria isn't my OC, so her mannerism, battling style and personality are out of my own control.**

 **GTheTecher** **2.0** **: Hahaha, someone stole my writing style! That's the _real_ villain right there ;D! Sorry, couldn't help myself xD anyways** **… I'm glad Axran turned out well! Ah, right** **… I admit I forgot about that actually x3 I was looking up real life military ranks the other day and couldn't find anything regarding "administrator" on any of the sites I went to, so** **… I just went with high-ranking member xD I've been busy lately, but here's that update! And thank you for the support!**

 **Painted Lady** **Bug : Ah, eleventh grade… good times** **… goooooood times** **… makes me remember the time when I had to write an eleven page chemistry essay in two days** **… anyways!** **Those questions are just another form of cliffhanger, mind games, trying to make you think more of the plot. They're rhetorical questions, if you may… you don't _have_ to answer them you know ;D So for the sake of mind games… are you absolutely _sure_ that they are real allies? As  DaPokemonMadster suggested, Demetria could very well be a good girl in disguise. Then again** **… she _has_ been wrong before, so there isn't much stopping her from being wrong again xD and I actually _did_ confirm that Giovanni called Red back in chapter one** **… yeah, I can go and twist up every single one of your answers, but then we'll end up with another essay; so I won't do that. I admit I enjoyed reading your theories though! They're good theories, I admit that much, but you _did_ miss out on a few things I'm afraid** **…**

 **Warning! Starting this chapter, Night of the Black Sun will contain character death! (Is that a spoiler? Doubt it as it should've been obvious already)**

 **Disclaimer** **… you know the drill** **… I do _not_ own anything related to ****Pokémon! In addition, I do not own either** **Demetria _or_ Axran! The only things I can claim some ownership of are the plot and OCs Mirza, Tara and Lyn I suppose** **…**

* * *

 **-= 3rd Person POV =-**

"Mirza… I admit that you are a powerful trainer, and I respect that…" Axran begun, as he enlarged a Great Ball, before releasing the Toxicroak contained within. Mirza, Tara, Green and Silver all already had an idea of what was going to happen, but none of them could do anything to stop Axran thanks to Lyn's Pokémon, "But you've become a nuisance for all of us! Moreover, you've refused our offer to join us. I'm afraid that you leave us with no choice; your reign ends here! Aegan… South… Zero Nine… East… Twenty… Poison Jab!"

Mirza couldn't move thanks to Gardevoir's Psychic attack, being locked and suspended in mid air. Tara and the Pokédex holders had Lyn's Togekiss floating in mid air in between them and the battlefield, preventing them from interfering. Everybody was forced to watch helplessly as Axran's Toxicroak closed in on Mirza, stingers extended and coated in lethal poison. The next thing everybody knew, Aegan's Poison Jab pierced through flesh and bone, and the battlefield's ground was splattered with crimson colored blood…

"No… way…" Lyn managed, dumbstruck. Both Demetria and Axran had a similar expression on their faces. Lyn's Togekiss was laying unconscious on the ground, and somebody had jumped in front of Mirza, taking Aegan's Poison Jab head on. Aegan's stingers had pierced right through her chest and were dripping with blood as well, while the girl was trembling and was already showing difficulties to even stand on her own two feet.

"Mirza is… our best… bet… on taking you… down…" the black haired girl managed, her breathing already irregular and her body trembling heavily. Gasps of shock were heard among the Pokédex holders, but beside the girl's panting and the dripping of her blood on the ground, the area was filled with a deathly and heavy silence. Eventually, the girl raised her head and Tara's eyes were blazing with determination, "No matter what… I won't let you… I won't let you take out Mirza before he takes all of you out!"

"Tara! Why?!" Mirza shouted the moment he got up from the ground. After the effects from Lyn's Gardevoir's Psychic had disappeared, nothing was suspending him in mid air anymore, causing him to fall on the dirt. Ignoring the pain in his arm, Mirza swiftly got on his feet and dashed up to catch Tara, who was falling backwards, "You know darn well that Toxicroak's poison is lethal! Why did you do that?!"

"You know… very well… that we… can't beat them… without… you…" Tara breathed out, almost inaudible for even Mirza to hear her words clearly. Smiling weakly, the heavily weakened girl continued, "I wouldn't… stand a chance… against… them… anyway…"

"That doesn't make it alright for you to just jump in like you did!" Mirza yelled back, gritting his teeth, "You shouldn't have done that… you should _not_ have done that!"

"I'm… coun…ting… o…n yo…u…" Tara whispered, before her body became completely limb and motionless in Mirza's arms.

"Tara!" Mirza shouted, even though everybody, including him, knew it was too late already…

"As touching as this scene is…" Lyn's annoyed voice grabbed the attention of everybody in the area. She was glaring at Mirza with pure hatred in her emerald green eyes, "I have a job to do and I won't let anything stop me from completing my mission! Gardevoir! Shadow Ball!"

"What are you doing?! Call off your attack!" Demetria suddenly shouted, startling Lyn. Even so, Lyn's Gardevoir had already begun condensing a dark colored orb in its hands.

"What's with you?!" Lyn barked back, directing her anger and hatred at Demetria, "Don't tell me you're worried about what's happening to him! You were the one who said you wanted him out of the way remember?! So does it matter who takes him out or how it is done?!"

"That's not the problem!" Demetria muttered, glancing at her brother, "If I know my brother as well as I think I do… you have to trust me and call off your attack right now!"

"That isn't good enough!" Lyn shouted, turning to her Gardevoir, "Gardevoir! Continue with your attack! Shadow Ball!"

"Don't do it!" Demetria yelled, but she knew she was a fraction of a second too late. Lyn's Gardevoir had already fired the dark orb at Mirza who, despite Demetria's apparent concerns, didn't move a muscle. The Shadow Ball made contact and caused a huge explosion, forcing all trainers to cover their faces from the debris that flew around as a result.

"See? Nothing to worry abou—" Lyn began, but was interrupted with a dark blur zooming straight at her, claws extended and aimed straight at her throat.

"Defense Formation KM5!"

Demetria's Garchomp appeared and, in the blink of an eye, locked claws with Mirza's Weavile, stopping the Sharp Claw Pokémon from finishing off Lyn, who was blown back by the gust of wind Fubuki caused by him moving there. The Land Shark Pokémon, despite the obvious size difference, was physically struggling to hold off Fubuki who, in turn, smirked. With a battle cry, Mirza's Weavile swiftly threw Garchomp off of him.

"N-No way!" Lyn exclaimed in shock, looking at the spot where Garchomp and Fubuki locked claws only seconds ago with wide eyes, "How did…?"

"I told you not to underestimate him!" Demetria barked back, glaring at the Weavile who had a smug look on his face, "My brother has a way to make his Pokémon more powerful than ever! But that won't stop me! Offensive Formation PP14!"

With a loud roar, Garchomp surrounded himself in sharp rocks from its Stone Edge attack, before enveloping itself in a light blue colored flame and darting straight at Fubuki. Although the Pokédex holders were all forced to watch in horror, Fubuki didn't give any indications that he would try to dodge the attack.

"Fubuki…" the tone of Mirza's voice caused chills to go up everybody's spines. His eyes, as Demetria and Lyn soon found out, were cold and empty, completely unlike how he was only moments ago, "Rampage to your heart's content… Night… Blade… Storm…"

A smirk appeared on Weavile's face, before he disappeared into thin air and, a fraction of a second later, Garchomp yelped in pain. The next thing everybody knew, Demetria's Garchomp had collapsed with deep cuts and bruises in his skin, unable to move a muscle.

"You've gone… way too far…" Mirza hissed in a dangerously low tone, walking slowly in the direction of Demetria, Lyn and Axran. Gold, Sapphire and Yellow, who looked like they were about to jump in to assist him, were watching the scene in front of their eyes unfold with shock, "You've gone way too far this time around! I'll make you hurt! I'll make you pay! Fubuki! Don't hold back and strike them down with all your might! Night Slash Omega Zero!"

"Gardevoir! Restrain Fubuki!" Lyn cried out, visibly shocked at how much and how fast Mirza's personality had changed, "Psychic!"

"Why would you use Psychic against a Dark type like Fubuki?" Ruby wondered out loud, loud enough for Lyn to hear him, "It won't work!"

"But who said anything about me using Psychic _on_ him?" Lyn replied with a dark smirk on her face, causing Ruby to watch Lyn's next move with a curious expression. He and the other Pokédex holders soon saw why Lyn was so confident, as Fubuki was enveloped in a bright light blue colored light, preventing him from making a move, "I'm using Psychic on the air _around_ him!"

"Good job Lyn! I shall take it from here!" Axran smirked, before turning to face Mirza's still struggling Weavile, "Uxron! South… Eighty Three… East… Zero Seven! Iron Tail!"

With a roar, Axran's Luxray dashed straight at Fubuki, his tail glowing a bright white color as he prepared his attack. What worried Axran the most, however, was that Mirza didn't seemed fazed at the fact that his Pokémon was being attacked nor was he showing any sign of counterattacking the incoming Uxron.

"Hydro Pump!"

From out of nowhere, a high powered and condensed stream of water blasted Luxray in his right flank, forcing the Gleam Eyes Pokémon to stop his attack and back away. Scowling in anger, Axran turned to the direction of the attack, seeing Yellow triumphantly petting her Omastar.

"Good job Omny! That was payback for what you did to Chuchu! Speaking of Chuchu…" Yellow began, turning to her electric mouse, who nodded in understanding, "Now it is time for Chuchu to get back at you! Not only for stopping her attack before… this is for all the pain and suffering you've put my friends through! This is for Tara! Thunder!"

A full second followed before the big attack came, but when Chuchu finally made a move it was well worth the wait. The very air crackled in electricity as Chuchu's overwhelming and tremendously powerful electric attack went straight for Uxron.

"What power…!" Blue uttered, visibly having difficulties to stand from the force of Chuchu's Thunder attack. Her eyes widened once she saw something else, "Green!"

"Yeah…" Green realized it as well, smiling as he watched the water left behind by Omny's Hydro Pump guide Chuchu's Thunder straight to Uxron, "She didn't just use Hydro Pump to _stop_ Uxron but to set up this next attack! I admit I'm impressed."

"Senior Yellow has definitely gotten stronger!" Gold shouted excitedly, fist pumping the air excitedly, "This should do it!"

"Magnezone!" Demetria called out, sending out her Magnezone, "Defense Formation DM15!"

Magnezone's entire body sparked with electricity, before it floated in between Uxron and Chuchu, taking the full blow of the Thunder attack. Once the resulting cloud of smoke cleared, Magnezone was shown to be floating in mid air without so much as a scratch, shocking everybody but Demetria and Mirza.

"I don't understand! How can that thing still be conscious after taking on an attack like that?" Emerald exclaimed in shock, watching the seemingly unharmed Magnezone float in mid air, "That Thunder attack was more powerful than ever! It should've at least put a dent in that thing!"

"It's a little trick I like to call 'Defense Formation DM15'!" Demetria smiled triumphantly, "My brother should know how it works _and_ how to break through it, so why don't you ask _him_?"

"Mirza!" Emerald shouted, turning to the elder black haired boy, who seemed to have calmed down considerably, "What just happened and how do we break through it?!"

"Defense Formation… DM15…" Mirza muttered almost lifelessly as he stood up, taking his time to do so. Tara's lifeless, blood stained body was laying in his arms as Mirza glared at Demetria's Magnezone, "It involves combining Light Screen with Thunderbolt, creating an electric field around it to neutralize most of the impact of the attack… and of the little bit that managed to break through, it got cut in half thanks to types…"

"How right you are!" Demetria laughed darkly, "You really need to try harder than that if you plan on taking down _my_ Magnezone! No way something like that would defeat it!"

"I will take it down, don't worry about that… but before I do that…" Mirza muttered, turning to look at Tara's pale and lifeless face for a few seconds, "Blue! Silver! Can you do me a favor and take over Tara's body for me?"

"S-Sure" Blue called out in reply, running up to the older male and relieving him of the added weight of Tara's body. With Silver right behind her, she turned to walk out of the forest.

"So now what?" Demetria taunted, chuckling slightly, "You think that now that nothing is holding you back physically you actually stand a chance against us? You don't learn _do_ you?"

"Demetria! That's enough!" Axran barked suddenly, catching Demetria by surprise, "Focus on why we're here! Or have you forgotten why we're here already?"

"Of course I haven't," Demetria shrugged nonchalantly before turning serious, "I am well aware why we're here… let me show you that I know! Magnezone! Garchomp! Offensive Formation FJ27, let's go!"

With a loud battle cry, Garchomp enveloped himself in azure colored flames once more, before darting straight at the Pokédex holders. Magnezone, in turn, created multiple balls of condensed energy, which it then proceeded to fire all of them towards the Pokédex holders as well. In a matter of milliseconds, the Pokédex holders were being charged at with a flame covered Garchomp surrounded by Magnezone's Hidden Power.

"Ruby! Take out the Garchomp after I take care of that Hidden Power!" Sapphire called out. Said boy nodded, and Sapphire grinned, "Alright, Toro! Sky Uppercut! Knock away that Hidden Power!"

Trembling slightly, Toro got on her feet, before she dashed straight at Garchomp. Nimbly and swiftly, the Blaze Pokémon knocked away all of the Hidden Power surrounding Garchomp, before jumping back to her trainer's side. While Demetria gritted her teeth, Sapphire and Ruby exchanged knowing looks.

"Zuzu! Muddy Water! Mimi! Blizzard!" Ruby called out, as his two water type Pokémon rose on either side of him. Zuzu opened his mouth wide, letting loose a stream of mud straight at Garchomp. Going at the speed he was going, the land shark was unable to dodge and got the full blow of the attack, dousing the flames and leaving him wide open. Mimi, in turn, saw this slight opening and let out a battle cry. The Tender Pokémon didn't let that opportunity go to waste as she opened her mouth and let loose a chilling wind of snow and ice straight at Garchomp, effectively immobilizing it thanks to the temperature drop, "Now that's what I call a beautiful combo!"

"You want a combo? Then allow me to _show_ you what a combo looks like!" Axran yelled, pointing straight at the Pokédex holders. Aegan and Uxron, who seemed like they understood what they needed to do, dashed forward, "North… Seventy Two… East… Sixty Five! GO! ATTACK!"

In front of the shocked eyes of the Pokédex holders, Aegan jumped on top of Uxron, riding the Gleam Eyes Pokémon into battle.

"Oh no you don't!" Gold shouted, enlarging a Poké Ball and releasing the Frog Pokémon inside, "Politaro! Shoot them down with Water Gun!"

Gold's Politoed appeared before firing off a stream of water straight at Uxron. Unfortunately for them, Uxron and Aegan were prepared for the counterattack, so while Uxron narrowly avoided Gold's Politaro's Water Gun, Aegan was busy condensing a dark orb of energy. Emerald was the first to recognize the attack.

"Incoming Dark Pulse!" the vertically challenged blonde boy shouted.

"You guys aren't the only ones who can restrain people!" Green shouted, turning to his Golduck who nodded in understanding, "But instead of restraining people, we'll restrain your Pokémon! Confusion! Stop that Luxray!"

Golduck's eyes turn a bright blue color, and the same color enveloped Uxron, abruptly stopping him in his tracks. Aegan, who didn't see that coming, lost his balance and flew off of Uxron's back. Green smirked once he saw the opening.

"Charizard!" the brunet called out as the dragon like fire type landed in front of him. Green didn't waste any time making his move, "Scorch that frog with Blast Burn!"

With a loud roar, Charizard let loose a white hot stream of fire straight at Aegan, who was unable to dodge the attack and was in big trouble.

"Gardevoir! Psychic!" Lyn suddenly yelled out, quickly followed by the Blast Burn being enveloped in a light blue light, before slowly turning around and heading straight for the Pokédex holders, "That's what you get if you try to attack us recklessly!"

"I won't let you… and neither will Fubuki…" an eerie voice suddenly came up, causing chills to run down everybody's spine. Mirza's bangs were covering his face as he glared at Lyn's Gardevoir. Before anyone could make a move, Fubuki had suddenly appeared behind Gardevoir, "Do it… Night Blade Storm…"

Swiftly and with a lot of power and aggression, Fubuki began hammering down on Gardevoir from all sides. The Embrace Pokémon was visibly taking a lot of damage and was trying its hardest to maintain the Psychic attack while enduring the punishment of Fubuki's Night Blade Storm. It was only after three seconds of continuous blows, however, that Gardevoir's legs gave in, and the Embrace Pokémon collapsed on the ground. The Blast Burn attack that Gardevoir redirected disintegrated and dissolved into thin air.

"That should teach you… not to rely on just one trick…" Mirza muttered darkly before standing up straight, "Fubuki! Night Blade Storm one more time!"

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, you're only using one move yourself!" Demetria yelled angrily in response as her Garchomp slowly took to his feet, "Dragon Rush!"

As Fubuki dashed forward at lightning speed, Garchomp enveloped himself in azure colored flames yet again before rocketing himself towards Fubuki. The two of them were on a collision course and neither Pokémon looked like they would jump out of the way.

"Another head on collision huh?" Mirza smirked, as he saw his sister nod in response, "That's just fine with me! Fubuki! Don't back down!"

Before the two attacks could connect, however, a dark orb came flying out of nowhere, creating a humongous explosion in between the two Pokémon. The force of the explosion was so big that it forced both Fubuki and Garchomp to jump back to avoid getting hit by the blast. Everybody in the area turned in the direction of the attack, seeing a Gengar levitating beside a male whose spiky black hair framed his face. The male had both his hands in his pockets and his blood colored eyes were scanning the area almost lifelessly. Gold, being the first to recognize him, was hence the first to call out to him.

"What took you so long?!" the amber eyed boy shouted after cupping his hands in front of his mouth, "We've been fighting a harsh battle for like forever and you were nowhere to be found! We really need your help! Senior Red!"

* * *

 **-= Blue's POV =-**

Silver and I left the battlefield with heavy hearts, and it took every ounce of willpower to stop myself from turning around and running back to my friends. Even though he tried his hardest to hide it, I could tell that Silver was feeling just the same way I was feeling, if not worse. I took a deep breath, knowing full well that I had to break the silence and comfort him. I knew better than anyone how much Silver looked up to me as his older sister figure.

"Don't worry!" I began, trying to sound as cheerful as I could, "I'm sure that they'll be fine!"

"That's not what's bothering me…" wait, it wasn't? I stared at him for a few seconds until I realized what I was doing. I shook my head and asked him what he meant. He hesitated for a moment but finally answered my question, "What bothers me the most… it's the fact that those trainers were prepared to kill us just like that… they didn't just want to defeat us, they were straight on ready to kill us! What's more is the fact that they were so comfortable at doing that… not just Axran but Lyn and Demetria as well…"

"You're right…" I mumbled, glancing at the two gaping holes in Tara's chest. I shuddered as I recalled the look on Axran's face when he commanded his Toxicroak to attack Mirza, only for Tara to jump in front of him to take the attack instead… "I'm sure they'll be fine though!"

"Yeah, and they're not that weak…" Silver muttered almost inaudibly. Unfortunately for him, I caught his words and couldn't help the smile from forming on my lips. No matter what other people might say, Silver cares deeply for the others and I knew that very well, "And I doubt Mirza is the kind of guy to let this go just like that…"

"You're right…" I mumbled, remembering the intensity of the aura around that guy earlier. I never met anyone who was that intimidating… I gulped before remembering something important, "About Mirza… you were with him before coming here right? Did you learn anything new about him?"

"After regaining consciousness from the battle against Demetria, I learned part of his past directly from him…" Silver admitted as he helped me carefully lay Tara's body down on the ground, away from the main path and completely covered and concealed by the bushes and trees around us. Once Silver and I made sure that nobody would stumble upon her body, Silver continued, "You'd probably already know that Demetria is Mirza's younger sister, but did you also know that —"

"They are the survivors of the Black Sun event ten years ago?" I interrupted, catching him off guard. Silver, being typical Silver, not only hid his shock but nodded in response almost directly, "I had a hunch from the start that they were at the very least _involved_ …"

"How did you know?" Silver inquired curiously, and I smiled.

"For one, I remember that a girl named Demetria went missing on that day, which wasn't that far away from when we escaped the Masked Man…" I shuddered at the memory of our horrid past, but quickly moved on, "And I remember that her brother was one of the sole survivors… I felt that there was something about Mirza from the moment he appeared in front of us at Professor Oak's lab… so I just put two and two together, but it was all still a hunch back then. To think that his past came back to haunt him like this…"

"Yeah… I can't imagine what it's like if I were forced to battle you, and Mirza must be feeling a whole lot worse…" Silver sighed, before the two of us fell into silence. It was true what Silver said: Mirza was going through a lot more than I first thought he was. After a minute or two, Silver broke the silence again, "But that would mean that —"

Once again, Silver got interrupted before he could finish what he was trying to say. This time, however, it was thanks to an explosion from the direction of the others. I knew what that meant and from the looks of Silver's face I could tell that he understood as well. The two of us quickly covered up the area to hide Tara's body, scanned the area again to make sure it was completely concealed before rushing back to our friends as fast as we could.

"That wasn't just an ordinary explosion!" Silver shouted as he dashed beside me at top speed. I bit my lower lip as I realized he was right, "That one was stronger than the explosion caused by Demetria when we first fought her!"

"You're right, but that's insane! How can they have gotten so much stronger?!" I asked, but was met by silence. It wasn't long until Silver and I had reached the place where we left the other Pokédex holders to fight. What shocked me most was the fact that no blows were being thrown and, apparently, everybody's attention was diverted, "What's going on? Why aren't they fighting?"

"Maybe that answers your question!" Silver answered, pointing at a figure that was approaching the battlefield slowly from the opposite side, "Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

"Not that I can tell fro —" I began, squinting my eyes to try and identify the figure better. I stopped mid sentence when I recognized that jet black hair and those crimson red eyes, and let out a sigh of relief as I was sure that I recognized the figure by then, "Red!"

* * *

 **-= 3rd Person POV =-**

"You really should be resting," the green haired boy said in concern as he watched the older girl try to stand, only to collapse on the ground shortly after. The girl was covered in wounds and bruises but was still trying desperately to get back up. Rushing over, the boy helped the navy haired girl lean against the tree. He then got something out of the small bag he had thrown off earlier and gave it to the panting girl, "Here, eat up! You'll feel better!"

"… Thank you…" the navy haired girl managed, still grimacing from her wounds. She gratefully ate the gift of the green haired boy, before resting her head on the tree behind her and closing her eyes in exhaustion. After a while she opened her eyes and, although still visibly exhausted, she looked a lot better, "I haven't properly introduced myself yet… have I? I'm Crystal."

"I know who _you_ are," the green haired boy laughed before introducing himself, "My name is Wally, and I am a friend of Ruby. I heard he helped you guys at the Battle Frontier battle a few months ago… I'm sorry I couldn't help you out back then…"

"What are you talking about? You were away training! That's how _we_ met up, remember?" another girl suddenly piped up, appearing in front of Crystal and Wally seemingly out of thin air. Seeing Crystal, the brunette who looked just like her smiled, "I'm glad to see you're up! I'm Lyra by the way!"

"Hey…" Crystal managed with a pained smile, before cringing in pain yet again. Wally and Lyra both rushed to help her, but she pushed the two away, "I'll be fine. I need to find the other Pokédex holders!"

"But you're in no condition to move!" Lyra exclaimed in shock, trying to get Crystal to sit back down and rest a bit longer. Crystal, in turn, stubbornly pushed the brunette off of her, before succumbing to the pain of her wounds and being forced to sit down again. Lyra bit her lower lip, weighing her options, but finally spoke up, albeit slightly hesitant, "If your friends are so precious to you that you're willing to look for them even while you are this hurt… neither Wally nor myself have any right of stopping you…"

"Lyra!" Wally exclaimed in shock. From the looks of his face, the green haired boy wanted to say something more, but stopped the moment he saw Lyra's eyes.

"Y-Yeah…" Crystal grimaced, fighting desperately to keep her balance and not fall down, "My friends are in a lot of danger right now!"

"But neither Wally nor I plan on letting you go off the hook _that_ easily!" Lyra interrupted cheerfully, smiling brightly, "I can't let you go if you're this hurt, and from the sounds of it your friends are in a big battle right? Wally and I might be able to help after all, so we're coming with!"

"Lyra…" Wally sighed, but was grinning nonetheless, "You're right! Besides, this means I finally get to show Ruby how much stronger I've gotten!"

"Alright…" Crystal panted, grabbing a Pokéball from her belt, enlarging it and releasing her Arckee. With the help of both Lyra and Wally, the navy haired girl got on her trusty Arcanine. Lyra got behind her while Wally mounted his Flygon, and Crystal petted her Arcanine, spurring him on, "Let's go Arckee! We have to go to the others!"

With a roar, Arckee dashed off into the dense curtain of trees. Despite her injuries, Crystal was fully aware of her surroundings, trying to tune in and lock on the location of the other Pokédex holders. It was only when Lyra almost knocked her off of Arckee that Crystal realized the brunette had been trying to grab her attention the whole time since getting onto Arckee.

"Sorry Crystal, you were spacing out and didn't respond to me at all!" Lyra stumbled over her apology before getting to the point, "I wanted to ask you about what's really going on, so… would you please tell me?"

"Alright…" Crystal sighed, deciding that she at least owed them that much for all of their help. She turned forward to direct Arckee into a side path before beginning, "So earlier today —"

"Lyra! Crystal!" a familiar voice rang through the area, interrupting Crystal. Soon after they heard that voice, Wally and his Flygon descended from above to fly by their side with a worried look on his face, "I'm sorry! I interrupted you two didn't I?"

"It's alright!" Lyra quickly cut in. She knew that Wally wasn't the type of person who would interrupt someone without a good reason, and the brunette really wanted to know what that reason was, "So what's wrong?"

"There was a battle just up ahead! There's smoke rising from what I think is where the battle took place!" Wally said, pointing into the distance. Both girls turned to the direction in which Wally was pointing at and, to their shock, saw that smoke was indeed visible, "I'll fly on ahead! You two will catch up right?"

"Yeah!" Crystal's short reply was all the green haired boy needed before flying off into the distance. Crystal directed Arckee and the three were chasing after Wally and his Flygon soon after that. After about twenty seconds of painful, heavy and dragging silence, Crystal finally remembered Lyra's request, "So earlier today a trainer appeared in front of us. He defeated one of the strongest Pokédex holders without so much as batting an eye! Soon after _that_ we were confronted by another trainer who took all of our attacks without getting a scratch."

"They must be really powerful then!" Lyra commented, sounding worried, "So is that how you got so hurt?"

"No…" Crystal sighed, recalling the recent events, "The first trainer I mentioned helped us defeat the second trainer, but then we were face to face with a trainer who took all of our ultimate attacks like it was nothing!"

"No way!" Lyra exclaimed in shock, "But the ultimate attacks was what saved the Battle Frontier a few months ago! How can someone brush off something _that_ powerful?!"

"I don't know…" Crystal admitted bitterly, before realizing that they had reached the place she could only assume was the battlefield. Her eyes widened in shock once the scene in front of her finally got through to her, with Lyra's reaction not being all that different, "This… This can't be happening…"

It was at that very moment that Mirza, who was panting heavily and covered with bruises, fell down face first, having lost consciousness. It was at that very moment that he finally followed the lead of the other Pokédex holders.

* * *

 **For some reason, writing this chapter was more difficult than the other chapters** **…** **I spent too much time on Tara's part, but that part just _had_ to be emotional** **…** **I also admit that I personally dislike that ending, but let's see if you agree with me xD for those who were wondering when Red, Lyra and Wally were supposed to enter this story, wonder no more! Though I admit I left you guys with more questions than answers, didn't I…? Anyways, I've decided to remove the reference lists altogether because a) they will spoil the story from this point onward and b) they would give you something to think about right? I guess it's alright to reveal it right here and now: chapter seven is going to be a personal favorite! Why? Well** **… where would the fun be if I were to tell you _that_? You'll just have to wait and see! Oh, heads up: I have a feeling end November/early December is going to be really busy for me, so I feel like the next chapter won't come out until late December at the fastest** **… if not, this will be my last Night of the Black Sun update for the year… apologies in advance!**

 **I can't remember if I have said this before, so in case I haven't:** **I realize the nicknames that I am using for the Pokémon may not be the ones you are used to. Truth is, I have read _all_ versions of the manga, so I am familiar with the original Japanese, Chuang Yi _and_ VIZ Media nicknames. Thing is that I prefer the nickname of one series for one character (i.e. Dodosuke instead of Dody or Dodosk) but prefer the nickname of another for another version (i.e. Mega instead of Megaree or Megapyon). Most nicknames that I am using are from the Chuang Yi version though. As a matter of fact, now that I really think about it, only the nicknames of Yellow's ****Pokémon (with the exception of her Raticate and Chuchu, the latter who's name is the same in all versions) and Gold's Pichu are _not_ from the Chuang Yi version (all of Yellow's but Dodrio are from VIZ and Dodrio's and Pichu's nickname are going to be their Japanese nicknames (Dodusuke and Pich respectively)). Just a heads up in case there are confusions among my readers! ****Hope that clears up any confusions that you might have!**

 **Also, seeing as Lyra doesn't have a** **Pokémon Special counterpart (why I'll never know *sigh* she more than deserves one!) I randomized her** **Pokémon team, receiving** **…** **pretty interesting results for her team if I do say so myself** **… let's just say that I'm glad Lyra's on the** **Pokédex holders' side** **… or _is_ she** **…?**

 **Alright, as usual: please follow and favorite this story if you haven't done so already! I know it is relatively diff** **erent from my other stories that I am/was working on, but this story is actually my main story now… yeah… if you got a few more minutes to spare, leave a review! All of those actions really motivate me to keep writing and not just leave my stories hanging! And a friendly reminder: the poll regarding my** **Pokémon Special and Inazuma Eleven crossover is still up, but won't be for much longer as we're nearing the nineteenth of November with every tick of the clock! If you haven't voted yet then please do so! You get to choose the top eight** **Pokédex holders (other than Red, Silver and Green), so choose wisely! Yeah, that's all** **… until next time!**


	7. Beginning of the End!

**Announcement time (please read)! This will be the last time that reviews are responded to in the actual chapter! For future chapters, I will respond to them on my blog (the url is Falneou17 . blogspot . com), like what I have already been doing for the chapters posted this year! Also, although I've said that I was looking forward to doing and uploading this chapter, the hype that I felt for this chapter was… different… from the one that I felt with writing other personal favorite chapters… either way, an extra long chapter this time around as a cheap way for me to apologize to you for the long wait (it's my second longest chapter ever at time of publishing this chapter)! But before we start and for the last time done within the actual chapter… review responses!**

 **GTheTecher2.0** **: Thank you! Yeah, I put an emphasis on Demetria and Lyn the past two chapters… reason for that will be revealed soon… now? Who knows? Not much else I can say though…**

 **joycewu333** **: Thank you! Yeah, it was… it allows me some freedom for the next chapter and it allows the reader to think a bit about it… thank you! Since there isn't much to base them on I actually just hope for the best for those two (especially Lyra)… I actually got quite a good example for Lyra now, so that should help a bit! Number of people thinking Red appearing with a Gengar is an ominous sign: 1**

 **DaPokemonMadster** **: Ah yes… I've been looking forward to chapter seven basically since chapter two was released all those months ago xD I should at least give you credit for holding onto your theories ;D you should've seen that coming actually… you should've seen that coming… as I said in an earlier chapter, both Lyra** ** _and_** **Wally will appear in this story, so here they are! Yeah… let's find out how they fare, shall we? Number of people thinking Red appearing with a Gengar is an ominous sign: 2**

 **Painted Lady Bug** **: It's fair to warn you: although I don't know German, I can understand about 80% of it as I know Dutch** ** _and_** **have real life German friends. If there was a reward for longest review, you'll get it no doubt… Let's see… I like your theory of Red and Demetria in all truths, but I can't say any more of it in fear of accidentally spoiling the story. We actually** ** _do_** **know that the person calling Red in chapter 1 was Giovanni… Really? "someone had to die, so why not her?"… no comments… Perhaps Axran knew…** **who knows anymore these days? Number of people thinking Red appearing with a Gengar is an ominous sign: 3**

 **Roseflare** **: And here we are, with the first person, indeed, having hit the dirt! Yeah, that was** ** _indeed_** **the original plan, but I already told you about it around mid-November that it changed significantly right? Oh yes, Mirza can be scary… so… very… scary… number of people thinking Red appearing with a Gengar is an ominous sign: 4**

 **So yeah, everybody but** **GTheTecher2.0** **thought that Red appearing with a Gengar is an ominous sign (and even if GTheTecher2.0 _did_ think that it was an ominous sign, there was no hint of it in the review)… anyways, disclaimer! I do ****_not_** **own anything related to Pokémon, nor do I own any OCs barring Mirza, Lyn and Demetria.**

* * *

 **-= Silver's POV =-**

 _Defeated… Defeated again_ …

 _It almost felt like a dream… or a nightmare… why? Why were they so much stronger? Why did they keep crushing us? We defeated every villain in the past! What makes them so much different? What makes them so much stronger?! What are we lacking?!_

"Silver!"

 _My… name…? Why does that voice sound so familiar? Why? Why… why… so… so_ … _far away?_

"Silver!"

 _So very far away… Why is everything so far beyond my grasp? Am I really… really that weak…? Really that… useless…?_

"SILVER!"

I felt something cold splash on my face, startling me enough to make me open my eyes and jump up, panting heavily as the water droplets fell from my drenched crimson locks onto the ground. The next thing I knew, a blur of brown hair tackled me, causing me to stumble and pant for air as I was trapped in big sis' very tight bearhug.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" big sis' muffled voice came from around my right shoulder and I instantly relaxed. I'm fine and so is she… thank you… I then bit my lower lip as I realized that I was worrying her… again… after a few more seconds, big sis let go of me and looked me straight in the eyes, "You _are_ alright… right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" I mumbled, ignoring the searing pain in my chest as I said that. It was then that I noticed I was sitting on an emergency bed in… where exactly were we? I looked around the place in an effort to tell where we were until my eyes landed on a familiar statue of my father… that means that this is the Viridian City Gym! I looked around a bit more and saw everybody either sitting or laying on an emergency bed scattered around in the room… everybody appeared to be banged up but otherwise nobody appeared to be suffering any major injuries… big sis appeared to be one of the few who had recovered enough to be able to stand, for which I was very grateful for. I turned to look at her again and asked a question that had been gnawing at me since I woke up, "How are the others?"

"As far as we can tell… we've been very lucky…" big sis' reply was both hesitant and careful, before she proceeded to scan the room. A short silence followed, which was broken by somebody slamming their fist on something hard, catching everybody's attention.

"This can't be happening!" Ruby shouted angrily, resulting in a deathly and unnaturally long silence. The Coordinator's clothes were dirty and wrinkled, but he didn't even seem to be aware of that fact, further showing just how bad the situation was. It wasn't long until that boy continued, breaking the silence he had created himself earlier, "We've been through so much! We saved the world so many times yet we get crushed facing off against just a few trainers?! How?! How did they beat us so easily?!"

"Even with senior Red on our side we _still_ lost!" Gold exclaimed, punching his open left palm with his right fist in agitation. A sudden, tense silence rose in the air as I wondered how big of an idiot he could be… apparently, he learned a thing or two over the years as it didn't take too long for him to notice the tension, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Senior Red _did_ come back right?"

"Talking about Red… where is he?" Yellow's hesitant voice came from an emergency bed on my right. Right… they didn't know… I watched as the blonde healer was scanning the room, obviously in the hope of finding the crimson eyed trainer. Even so, everybody already knew that he wasn't here at all. Gulping nervously, Yellow's quivering voice tried to break the heavy atmosphere, "Is he… outside?"

"Somebody just tell them already!" Green huffed, annoyed, before dropping himself back down on the bed that he was occupying in the corner of the gym. Before hiding his face behind another one of his books I heard him mumble something that sounded a lot like "They would find out sooner or later anyway… might as well make it sooner."

"Tell us…?" Yellow trailed off before stopping mid-sentence, her eyes widened in realization. Gold was, unsurprisingly, a bit slower to process the information given to him and was therefore still looking blank. The fear that Yellow felt was apparent in both her eyes and her voice as she hesitantly spoke up again a few seconds later, "No… don't tell me…"

"I'm sorry Yellow…" I heard big sis say in response as I saw my juniors from the Hoenn region look away in pain. For some reason, I felt a tinge of pain in my chest as well, but perhaps that was because of big sis' tone, "It's true that Red was at the battle… but…"

"He wasn't on our side… was he?" Yellow finished big sis' sentence for her, to which big sis nodded silently. While Yellow took the news relatively calmly, the same news visibly shocked Gold. Taking a deep breath before continuing, I noticed that Yellow's voice was cracked and trembling, "What happened? I mean… how did we… lose…?"

"Senior Gold slipped on a twig, hit his head and lost consciousness!" Emerald replied without missing a beat, a tad too cheerful and with a surprisingly straight face. Gold, who was in the middle of drinking a glass of water, did a spit take and was choking. At the sight of the amber eyed boy's face, I couldn't help but feel the corners of my lips quiver slightly as Emerald almost fell off his bed laughing.

"Emerald!" Crystal scolded as she picked up the little boy by the collar with one hand and put her other hand on her hip. I saw Emerald flinch as Ruby and Sapphire shuffled a bit away from Crystal. Admittedly, their reaction was not surprising in the least, considering how angry the navy haired girl was, "That's not what happened now is it?"

"Sorry…" Emerald muttered, but he did so almost inaudibly. Crystal huffed but lowered him back on the bed all the same.

"Thank you very much for the update _Croissant Head_ ," Gold spat those last two words venomously, ignoring the angry yells of Emerald as he turned back to all of us. It was at this moment that my stomach send a searing pain throughout my body, forcing me to tune out Gold's next question as I needed all my strength not to make it obvious I was in pain.

"My dear sister…" Mirza answered with a serious look in his eyes, suddenly joining in the conversation as I saw him grasping his left shoulder in pain the moment he turned to Gold, "Her Tyranitar knocked you unconscious right after Red appeared at the scene… as a matter of fact, she took advantage of the fact that you were distracted by Red's arrival to knock you out. It was an open shot as we all lowered our guards…"

"Why that little…" Gold trembled in anger as he clenched his fist, "Once I get my hands on her…"

"Then what? It's not like you can face her one on one! You didn't stand a chance against Clara even when you were in good condition, so what possible hope do you have of taking Demetria down in your current condition?" Mirza countered harshly, effectively shutting off Gold and causing all of us to fall in silence as we processed what he was saying. Even though he was being harsh, I knew that he was right… we couldn't beat them… not the way we were right now at least. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost didn't hear him continue, "I hate to admit it, but none of us stand a chance against any of them one on one… both Clara and Clyde weren't anywhere near the level of either Demetria or Lyn, and both Axran and Red have yet to show off their real strength to us… I might be able to go blow for blow against Demetria or Lyn, but successive battles will tire me out sooner or later… you know I'm not making this up as Demetria shrugged off ten of the twelve ultimate attacks like it was nothing, remember?"

Gold and I weren't the only ones who were stunned into silence at the news that we all knew was true but still hit us like a ton of bricks regardless. Glancing around, I saw big sis biting her lower lip while looking away from me, Ruby and Sapphire both had their fists clenched, with the brunette also gritting her teeth, Emerald was gripping his E-shooter tightly and even Green, albeit doing a really good job at pretending to be reading his book, had his eyes focused at a specific spot on the page, not moving and unusually empty. Eventually, it was Yellow who broke the deathly silence, "What about me? What happened to me?"

"Senior Yellow…" Sapphire began, before stopping and turning to big sis. I turned in time to see big sis nod, hearing Sapphire gulp uneasily before she continued, "That Gengar… that Gengar struck you down… about the same time when senior Gold fell…"

Yellow's face turned as white as a sheet as she heard that revelation. Another silence followed, but was broken much faster than the previous ones as Emerald piped up, "Why would senior Red willingly attack us the way he did? Was everything that we did together not enough for him to consider us his friends and comrades? Why did he attack us?"

"Mirza…" Green said in a monotone while sitting up, everybody's attention instantly shifting to the jet black haired boy who, in turn, looked down at the ground. Marking the page that he was on, Green put the book to the side and focused his attention on the older boy, "You know more about this than you're letting on right? You _knew_ Red was on their side! Why didn't you tell us?"

"You're wrong… I _didn't_ know Red was on their side until he joined the battle! I was just as shocked as you guys were when he was revealed to have switched sides!" Mirza shouted back in anger. I remembered the look on his face when Red attacked Yellow and knew it was genuine. He really _didn't_ know about that until it was too late… It wasn't long until he continued, however, with a softer tone this time, "I'm not going to deny that I know more than I'm letting on though…"

"Wouldn't it be about time that you told us _everything_ that you knew?" I asked, irritated that he hadn't done so already. I saw Mirza close his eyes in thought, taking a few seconds to come up with his answer. Before giving him a chance to answer my questions, however, I quickly added, "You can't expect us to fight an enemy with you if you don't tell us _everything_ that you know beforehand. Well?"

"Very well…" Mirza finally sighed. He opened his eyes and looked at all of us with a serious expression on his face, "I will tell you everything I know."

* * *

 **-= Mirza's POV =-**

"Very well…" I sighed, fully understanding everybody's frustration. Silver's argument was a very valid one, and since they trusted me I should trust them… they _were_ risking their lives in this… not that they knew just _how_ dangerous the battles had been, but still… I opened my eyes and looked at all of them, "I will tell you everything I know."

"It's about time…" Sapphire huffed, folding her arms in the process. Despite her borderline rude reaction, it was very understandable why she felt that way and I actually found myself having to suppress a smile.

"Sapphire! Watch your mouth!" Ruby called out, annoyed, a few beds away from the brunette's. Although I understood fully why he was annoyed, a part of me was actually amused watching the two bicker it out. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear my name being called until Ruby was practically yelling at me, "MIRZA! You can start now."

"Right…" I smiled sheepishly as my mind went back to those days and I felt my vision become hazy. I took a deep breath and began, "It was a few years ago when I first realized that something was wrong, as it was only a few years ago that their actions began to see the light of day. Successive weird events that the authorities labelled as a coincidence occurred in the Sinnoh region and, admittedly, to the unprofessional eye those cases _did_ , in fact, look like a string of unrelated events. Tara and I, on the other hand, knew better…"

"What do you mean?" the girl I remember to be called Lyra asked curiously. A memory flashed through my mind's eye and I smiled grimly at the memory of that day.

* * *

 **[Flashback - Mirza's POV]**

 _About four years ago, I was in a town in the faraway Sinnoh region known as Solaceon Town when it began. Tara and I had just gotten into town, exhausted and looking forward to a place to rest. Just when we found the Pokémon Center in the small town we heard an explosion and saw smoke rise into the air beyond the houses. Not wasting a second, the two of us hurried over there and saw an older man who looked to be in his mid-late thirties face first in the dirt, covered in the bruises and cuts and, upon closer inspection, was unconscious. Without a second thought, Tara and I carried him over to the Pokémon Center where he regained consciousness a few hours later._

 _"Sir? We found you unconscious on the outskirts of the town," Tara began carefully when Nurse Joy had given us the green light to enter the man's room. He looked quite banged up but appeared to be fine otherwise, "May we ask what happened?"_

 _"It was all my fault…" the old man muttered continuously. Both Tara and I tried to snap him out of his continuous 'it was all my fault' but it probably took at least half an hour for the old man to stop muttering it. By then, both Tara and I were already tired as it was, though curiosity helped us by giving the motivational drive to continue asking while also helping us cover up our irritation and frustration better._

 _"Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is your fault?" I asked carefully after the old man had seemingly calmed down. His jet black hair was unkempt, falling in several bangs in front of his forehead but were short enough not to cover his whitish silver eyes. Tara and I had already found out that his name was Nano, but not only did it cost us a lot of time and energy for us to get that much out of him, his name was practically all we got out of him at that point in time._

 _"I'm… a photographer… a reporter…" Nano began, his voice still quivering slightly but he seemed fine otherwise. Tara had taken out a notepad and a pen and was scribbling down as he recounted what happened. A short silence followed in which Nano was hopefully trying to put the recent events into words before he managed to utter another word, "I… I heard of the Solaceon Ruins and came here to… came here to…"_

 _"To gather data on the ruins?" Tara asked, finishing his sentence as she glanced over the cover of her notepad. Nano nodded slowly in response, which was quickly accompanied by the sound of Tara scribbling down fiercely. Glancing at the black haired girl, I saw her look up and continue asking, "I know I'm prying, but… what did you mean with 'it was all your fault'?"_

 _"It's…" Nano trailed off, his gaze focused at a point in the distance as Tara and I looked at him, our curiosity petering out our growing irritation and impatience, which was fortunate as Nano finally did break the silence between us, "Do you know of the Lightning Chimaera of Solaceon?"_

 _"I've heard about it…" I muttered, recalling having read an article about it a few days ago. I scrunched my eyebrows as I tried to remember what the article said, eventually accepting that I didn't remember other than having read an article about it, "I don't know anything about it though…"_

 _"Same here actually," Tara admitted with a shrug of her shoulders before she shifted a bit in her seat, "If I remember correctly, there was an article about it a few days ago… it didn't go into much detail, so all I know about it is that it exists. Does the Lightning Chimaera have anything to do with what happened earlier?"_

 _"It's not a 'it'…" Nano's voice was so soft that both Tara and I didn't hear it, and when we asked him to repeat it again, our eyes widened in shock when we both realized what he meant simultaneously. Nano began again, but this time there was an undertone of horror very apparent in his voice, "The Lightning Chimaera is a 'she'… a girl probably not much older than either of you…"_

 _"What happened?" Tara asked, but I could both hear the hesitation in her voice as well feel the emotion being radiated from her. Whenever the black haired girl was hesitant, she would always radiate this energy that made it clear what she was feeling._

 _"A landslide… I was… trapped… in the Solaceon Ruins…" Nano recounted, the look on his face creeping Tara out more and more as time went on, "Then I saw her… the Lightning Chimaera of Solaceon! Just like how the people of Solaceon described her! Her dark black hair cascaded down her back to her calves, casting her in a dark shadow. What I'll never forget… what I'll never forget were those eyes… those crimson… blood red eyes of hers…"_

 _"Crimson… blood red… eyes…?" I repeated slowly, turning to Tara to see the creeped out look on her face. Crimson blood red eyes and black hair that reached her calves… Could it be…? No… Shaking the thought from my mind, I turned back to the man in front of me, "Then what happened?"_

 _Instead of responding to me, Nano's eyes seemed to bulge out as he started to shake and tremble heavily. With a yelp that I figured was of surprise, I turned to see that Tara had moved a few meters away from her previous spot, eyeing Nano with fear struck eyes of her own. I was about to call out to him, until—_

 _"She… electric blast… fresh air… paralyzed… explosion…" Nano rambled on, but only a few words were anything but nonsensical sputtering. I sighed, finally feeling the exhaustion that I was carrying these past few weeks sink into my bones, before turning to my partner. From the looks of it, she was about to pass out of exhaustion as well. Deciding that we could continue this conversation in the morning, I nodded at Tara, who took the hint and stood up at the same time that I was._

 _"Psychic!" an unfamiliar, female voice pierced the air, causing Tara, Nano and I to freeze up. What worried me the most was when I realized that I couldn't move again, which was exactly when I started to struggle harder. I saw a light blue colored light enveloping me, almost like a second skin, and saw from the corner of my eyes that both Tara and Nano were trapped in the same light as well. Fubuki! Starlight! It doesn't matter who, anyone! I tried to move my hands to release someone but the powerful Psychic attack did its job in restraining me. I heard footsteps from behind me, signalling the entrance of another person, but being in the situation that I was in I couldn't turn around to see who it was. The footsteps stopped before I could hear an audible sigh from the doorway, followed soon after by the same voice as before muttering something that I had to strain to hear, "Use Hypnosis on the other two. We don't want any onlookers…"_

 _A one meter tall humanoid Pokémon appeared in front of me so suddenly I could've sworn it just appeared out of thin air. I instantly recognized it as a Kirlia, but something was off… what was wrong with the color of its hair and legs? Normally a tint of green, this Kirlia was sporting hair and legs in a shade of blue. I couldn't put much thought into it as the eyes of the differently colored Kirlia quickly turned a deep and dark red color. I knew what it was doing… I knew what it was trying to do but thanks to the Psychic attack keeping me in place, there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. It wasn't long until I heard a thud beside me, telling me that Tara had fallen victim to the attack as well as I still struggled hard to resist it. A few seconds later, my struggle was proven to be for naught as I felt my body collapse on the ground, eyelids drooping and consciousness slipping… I heard more footsteps, some shuffling beside me before I lost consciousness completely_ …

* * *

 ** _-=_ 3rd Person POV =-**

"Two questions!" Lyra directly chirped as soon as Mirza stopped talking. The older boy nodded in a form of acknowledging the brunette's request so Lyra asked the two questions that she had apparently been dying to ask, "How does that have anything to do with this current organization and what's the conclusion you came up with?"

"The answer to your first question is very simple actually…" Mirza closed his eyes and smiled, giving quite an eerie vibe, before turning to Lyra with a serious look on his face, "The person who took Nano was Lyn. I wasn't sure at first but now I am."

"And you're sure about that because…?" Gold asked, making sure to put emphasis on the last word as he raised an eyebrow. When he saw the look both Crystal and Silver were giving him, the amber eyed boy quickly held both his hands up in a defensive matter, "What? I'm curious and it's not like Mirza was being very clear about _how_ he found out it was Lyn right?"

"He actually got a point for a change," Mirza smirked, ignoring the angry response that followed, before clearing his throat and giving a real answer, "The battle style of Lyn was not only extremely similar to the girl who attacked us back then, but her demeanor, figure of speech and voice were near identical as well. The information that Tara got also suggested our hunch… Lyn was indeed…"

"What about that girl?" Crystal inquired after a prolonged pause, voice filled with both concern and curiosity as the navy haired girl turned to the taller male, "That Lightning Chimaera girl or whatever she was called… did you find anything about her? And what about Nano?"

"Unfortunately we didn't…" Mirza begrudgingly admitted, gritting his teeth as he turned away. A tense silence followed where nobody dared to move, until Mirza released the breath that he did not know he was holding and forced a smile to form on his lips, "Though if she's the same person they say she is, I'm sure that she'll be fine. I highly doubt that she was called the 'Lightning Chimaera of Solaceon Town' for nothing… Nano on the other hand… I'm not sure… all I can do is hope that he's fine…"

"So… what?" Wally suddenly spoke up, flinching slightly as everybody's attention turned to the green haired boy. Nonetheless, he stood his ground and continued, "So they kidnap people… do you have any idea why?"

"Either they want them out of their way to prevent them from standing in their way of achieving whatever it is their goal is," Mirza began slowly, eyebrows furrowed as he appeared to be deep in thoughts, "Or they want to turn all of them over to their side to make crushing their enemies even easier… Nano is a reporter, so he could easily have made their exploits and actions known to the world, heavily impeding their operations… taking him would allow them a bit more breathing space… that Lightning Chimaera girl would obviously have been quite the nuisance to them if they didn't take her out first… the way Nano described her, she was beyond powerful…"

"What you are trying to say by wasting all of our time like this…" Silver began, his voice drooping with anger and everybody saw that the normally calm Silver was speaking very slowly in an effort to control his emotions, "Is that they kidnapped some of your friends and you're out after them for revenge? How pathetic!"

Everybody, even Green, flinched at Silver's words as the red head's glare at Mirza caused both Crystal and Lyra, being in between the two boys, to shuffle a few meters away. An extremely tense silence followed for a fraction of a second until everybody either grimaced or winced at Mirza's outburst, "What do you know about what I've been through?! What do you know about being forced to watch helplessly as those you care about either disappear or get killed right in front of your eyes?! Having to fight a family member?! Knowing that you're absolutely powerless to do a thing about it! What do you know about how that feels?!"

"And if I do?" Silver replied calmly, staring down at Mirza as the latter was visibly trembling in anger at Silver's response. The red head, however, didn't seem to be fazed at all as he continued, "What are you going to do if I say that I _do_ know how that feels? Everyone of us here has suffered a loss or two but we're all still here. The fact that we're all here shows that we had the strength to overcome those losses. We _know_ how it feels to be powerless! You're not as strong as I gave you credit for if you're still whining like a twelve year old over every bump in the road."

"Silver!" Blue cried out in alarm at the same time as Crystal jumped in between the two arguing boys, arms spread wide and yelling frantically, "This isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves! Stop!"

"Fine!" Mirza huffed angrily, enlarging a Luxury Ball and walking to the exit of the Viridian City Gym. Before he left the building, however, he called out over his shoulder, "We'll settle this outside."

"I know I'm going to regret this…" Gold began, a sincere worried look on his face as he turned to his red haired friend. Silver, in turn, kept silent, eyes fixed on a point in the distant. As the red head had apparently made up his mind and started walking outside, Gold knew that he had to act and stepped in between him and the door, "You're going to regret doing this. Don't pick a fight with him!"

"Move…" Silver muttered almost inaudibly, but the direct effect of that one single word was phenomenal. The air felt like it cooled down by ten degrees by Silver's tone alone and, while not having the intended effect of making Gold move to the side, it did put a number on the amber eyed boy's confidence. Not missing a beat, the red head continued as he glared at the boy in front of him, "I won't warn you again Gold. Move. I have no reason to hurt you so don't make me move you myself."

"We should be working together with him in order to defeat those trainers, not _against_ each other!" Sapphire shouted from the other side of the room while hopping off her bed, grimacing as her feet hit the floor and stumbling in pain. Both Ruby and Wally quickly found themselves on either side of the brunette to help her on the bed again.

"This isn't about looking for a fight with him," Silver said darkly, eyes closed and his crimson colored hair swaying slightly. The entire room was quiet, waiting patiently for the red head to continue, which he eventually did, "This is about him saying that he will tell us everything and didn't. I got questions, he got answers that he's not giving for some reason. One way or another, he's going to give those answers, no matter what I have to do to get them. Also—"

"You're being unreasonable right now…" Green stated without looking up from the book that he was currently engrossed in. Feeling the gaze of the other teenagers in the room, the boy whose hair spiked up like the quills of a porcupine sighed before continuing, "If he doesn't want to share everything then he has all the right to do so. It's his past and his life after all. You should know that better than anyone here."

"Even so…" Silver gritted his teeth, realizing how right the older trainer was yet not willing to admit it. A few painful moments followed where nobody dared to move before the red head made up his mind, "I have to do this so don't try and stop me!"

Not wasting another second, Silver turned around and walked out of the Viridian City Gym. A few of the ones remaining opened their mouth, trying to start a conversation and break the heavy silence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to everybody but Green, the silence was broken.

"Who wants to go and watch their battle?"

* * *

 **-= Yellow's POV =-**

"Fubuki! Starlight! Up and at 'em!"

"Let's go! Feraligatr! Rhyperior!"

Blue managed to drag me and everybody else out the Viridian City Gym at the exact right time. Glancing at Green, I was still wondering how Blue managed to persuade him fast enough to go outside with the rest of us. Four flashes of bright light caught my attention, jerking my head back to the front in time to see that the four Pokémon had already taken their spots on the battlefield, Silver on the side nearer to us and Mirza on the opposite side. I stood there, rooted to the spot and unmoving, until a light shake shook me out of whatever trance I was in. Looking up, I saw Lyra's grinning face, nodding at the others who had positioned themselves on the sidelines beside the battlefield. Understanding what the brunette was saying, I quickly followed her to stand by the others.

"I won't hold back and I don't expect you to hold back either!" Mirza shouted from his end of the battlefield, meaning to sound angry but an amused undertone clearly distinguishable in his voice… I wonder why… the oldest trainer's remark was met with a scowl and silence from his opponent, and it wasn't long until I saw him shrugging, "I shouldn't have expected anything less… Starlight! Flamethrower Omicron Five!"

"Feraligatr! Hydro Cannon!" Silver wasn't messing around as I realized that he just called out the ultimate attack. As a jade emerald colored flame was let loose in a stream by Mirza's Starlight, Silver's Feraligatr condensed and fired a high pressured stream of water straight at the Mystic Pokémon. The two attacks collided in the middle of the battlefield, creating a shockwave that forced me to turn away from the fight. What power! I knew Mirza was strong but how did Silver get so strong? Realization dawned on me as I forced myself to turn back to the battle, seeing that the two attacks were perfectly matched in power and nobody got hurt. Silver… you…

"Not bad Silver… not bad at all…" Mirza's voice was enough to shake me out of my thoughts just as Starlight descended back down, choosing to float beside Fubuki. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, Mirza turned to his Weavile, who appeared to be ready to battle, "Fubuki! No need to hold back with this! Night Blade Storm! Let's go!"

"Rhyperior! Intercept with Megahorn!" Silver commanded, his Rhyperior charging straight at the much smaller Weavile without a second of hesitation. I heard some of my friends gasp for air, but for some reason I found myself unable to look away even if I wanted to. Right when Rhyperior's horn and Fubuki's claw were about to collide, a flash of light came from above them, getting everybody's attention. Before anybody could react, the light was quickly followed by something big and heavy falling in the middle of the battlefield and raising a huge cloud of dust as a result. All of us either covered our faces or turned around to prevent getting blown away by the dust and, in my own effort to hold my footing, I barely made out Silver's muffled voice yelling "What's going on?"

"My my… sorry for… dropping in like that, but you guys had a party and didn't invite me?" a voice I instantly recognized sounded from above the battlefield and, turning to the direction of the sound, I saw Demetria slowly descend on her Magnezone, her dirty blonde hair swaying in the wind slightly. I could feel everybody else tense up as the Magnezone descended low enough for its rider to slide off. Dusting off her pants, Demetria took her time before finally turning to look at us. When she finally did, however, I could hear a few gasps as I saw the bags under her eyes and the scar running down her left eye, both not there the last time that we faced her. Her voice, filled with the same pride and confidence as before, brought us all back to reality, "We have some unfinished business to take care of now don't we?"

"Unfinished business? Yeah right!" Mirza shouted angrily, apparently angrier at the fact that his sister suddenly barged in like this than that his battle with Silver was forced to end prematurely. Talking about Silver… the red head didn't seem annoyed at the sudden ending either, but appeared to be ready to throw himself into battle at any time, just like everybody else was. Mirza's command woke me out of my trance, "Fubuki! Night Blade Sto—!"

"Are you sure that you want to do that?" Demetria smirked, interrupting Mirza's command, appearing to know something that Mirza didn't as I saw him flinch slightly and hesitate, not finishing his command. What was he doing? We _needed_ his help now more than ever! I turned to face the dirty blonde haired girl, ready to call out my friends with two enlarged Poké Balls in both of my hands already, but found that she wasn't standing there anymore. I was about to look around when an ice cold voice behind me made me freeze on the spot, "Looking for me?"

"Blasty!" I heard Blue call out at the same time as Silver yelled out his starter's name. Without missing a beat, the both of them commanded the next attack simultaneously, "Hydro Cannon!"

I didn't need to see the attack to know that it was heading straight at me or, rather, straight at the person standing right behind me. I waited for the last moment to jump to the side, hearing the two ultimate attacks make contact with something and explode. The force of the explosion caused by the two Hydro Cannons sent me flying but, luckily for me, Crystal caught me before anything bad happened. Quickly turning around to see how much damage the combined efforts of Blue and Silver did, I gasped as I saw that Demetria wasn't there anymore. About to run off, I remembered that I hadn't thanked Crystal yet so I turned to said girl, "Thank you!"

"Don't worry about it senior." Crystal replied with a nod as she released Mega from her Poké Ball. I felt something tug at my leg and saw that Chuchu stood there, having escaped the confines of her Poké Ball at some point, a determined look on her face as she jumped in front of me.

"Your opponent is me!" Mirza shouted angrily, grabbing my attention. It was then that I saw that he had positioned himself in between Demetria and us, his Weavile by his side and his Flygon flying overhead. The jet black haired boy seemed… angrier than usual… "Isn't that what you always yell at me? This is between you and me so leave everybody else out of this!"

"On the contrary… _big brother_ ," Demetria hissed in response calmly but spat those last two words out with a lot of anger of her own as well. Taking a deep breath, the dirty blonde haired girl raised a hand and, with that one simple motion, both her Tyranitar and Magnezone stopped dead in their tracks, "I'm not here to battle. I'm here for something else but looking for a fight isn't what I'm here for, I can guarantee that much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby yelled from the other side of the field, though either Demetria didn't hear him or at the very least pretended not to.

"Nine Pokédex Holders… three extra trainers… that makes twelve…" Demetria muttered as her gaze landed on every one of us before she closed her eyes and smiled slightly, "That should do… that should do just fine…"

"Do just fine for what?!" Gold shouted angrily, Explotaro's flames exploding as the Volcano Pokémon shared his trainer's anger. I understood Gold's anger, he didn't trust her and, taking a quick glance at everybody else, everybody agreed with him. Demetria was not to be trusted! Not after all the pain and suffering she already put us through! I could feel Chuchu spark with electricity and smiled, glad that she wasn't putting her guard down either.

"This!" Demetria smirked, raising her hand high above her head and snapping her fingers, the sound sounding like a gunshot in the quiet air. We all braced ourselves for a whole stampede of Pokémon to suddenly appear and attack us but what happened next was something that none of us could have predicted.

"What is this?!" Emerald cried out in alarm, causing all of us to jerk our heads in his direction. I knew what I saw yet couldn't understand what was happening, and I just stood there, eyes wide in both shock and fear at what I was seeing… A circle of light had appeared on the ground around him, but that wasn't the least of our problems. A barrier of light had somehow erupted from the circle, trapping Emerald inside it and, somehow, was making parts of his body disappear. As Emerald could do nothing to stop himself from vanishing, Crystal, Gold, Ruby and Sapphire ran up to him and they began pounding on the barrier frantically in a futile attempt to destroy it.

"Save yourself the trouble of hurting your knuckles and give it up already," Demetria sighed as she watched the scene in front of her. The words had barely left her mouth when Emerald's body disintegrated completely, disappearing into thin air. Crystal dropped on her knees as I just stood there, rooted to the ground and my eyes opened wide in shock. That did not just happen… that did not just happen! How did that happen?! What just happened?! I barely heard Demetria continue but managed to still pick up her words regardless of my daze, "The same will happen to all of you soon enough anyway…"

I heard shrieks of panic and fear as I saw my friends disintegrate in front of my eyes one by one. I couldn't move… I knew I had to but something was stopping my body from moving the way I wanted it to. It was only a matter of time until a similar circle of light surrounded me before I felt my body break down and vanish. The last thing I remembered seeing was Demetria, her arms crossed and her eyes closed as if impatiently waiting for all of this to be over.

* * *

 **-= Demetria's POV =-**

I let out a sigh as I felt the last trainer, Green, disappear into thin air. Opening my eyes tiredly and brushing off the dirt on my jacket, I saw the previously filled field completely empty with the exception of some craters from some attacks, probably the courtesy of those Hydro Cannon attacks earlier. Doing these tasks took up too much of my precious time, but I guess if somebody had to do this it might have been me. The others would have messed it up anyway. I was about to call out Garchomp to go back until I felt a vibration from my pocket.

"Demetria here." I said into the phone after picking up the call. I was shocked when I realized how irritated I sounded but, considering how exhausted I was, let it slide.

 _"It's me_ …"a low voice from the other end of the call replied. So he is calling me of all people huh? A voice I recognized immediately but couldn't put much thought into it as the other person continued, " _Status report. Now."_

"They've been taken care of as planned," I stated, not wanting to show that I was exhausted, "All twelve of them: nine Pokédex Holders as well as three trainers with them. Among those three was my brother as well."

 _"Very good_ …" I heard a pause on the other end of the line and was about to say something until the other person beat me to it, " _Proceed with the next step."_

"Affirmative!" I ended the call before taking out a monitor from the pocket near my ankle. After taking a moment to scan the screen, I smiled, made sure to securely return it in place and released Garchomp. My bipedal Pokémon towered above me before he lowered himself to let me ride him. I turned to both Tyranitar and Magnezone, recalling the both of them after thanking them for a job well done. Steadying myself by putting my left foot on Garchomp's fin, I swung myself onto his back easily, positioning myself in front of his back fin and head. As the mighty Mach Pokémon stood on his hind legs, I petted him on the head in a form of encouragement, shocking even myself at how happy I was, "Let's go! Things are about to get _very_ interesting!"

* * *

 **Congratulations! For the most part, people were actually right with their theory that Red appearing with Gengar signals something ominous! Though, in all truths, that was rather easy right? We also get more insight on Mirza's past as well as a segment in Demetria's POV, which, if you haven't realized, are two of the many reasons why I was looking forward to this chapter! I also don't have to be saying this, but I'm going ahead and say it anyway: more so in this story than my others, every detail counts! Hm… I can't really say when the next chapter will be up and about though… my schedule's real hectic lately…**

 **Anyways, as always, please follow and favorite if you haven't done so already, and leaving a review is always very much appreciated; much more so for Night of the Black Sun than any of my other stories as this is, in fact, my main! Until next time, take care!**


	8. Survival Battle! (Part 1) - Ambushed!

**Let's go with chapter 8! Though before anything, a few words of gratitude are in order! A special thanks to Twinfeather, Roseflare, Dante02, joycewu333, DaPokemonMadster and LightZephyr for reviewing last chapter and to 1358456 for reviewing this story! Yes, you've read that correctly! One of the people who inspired me to write fanfiction to begin with has read and reviewed one of my stories (this one)!**

 **Also, a special thank you to the following people: Roseflare, joyce, Rider and Aeeemseven for recommending this story (I only know of these four, so if you're not mentioned my apologies…)! It is highly appreciated! Next up is a special round of thank you that goes to both 1358456 and two good friends of mine: Lily and Paochi who, all three, gave me invaluable advice for me to bring this story to the next level (advice that I will (try to) implement starting today)! Finally, a big thank you to LightZephyr for helping in finalizing this chapter!**

 **That AN turned out longer than I wanted… but before we begin: disclaimer! Things that I _don't_ own include Pokémon itself, any of its related materials and any OC barring Mirza, Demetria and Lyn.**

* * *

 **-= Green's POV =-**

Cih… whatever that beam was it not only sent me to a place I didn't recognize but it sent everybody else to a different location as well. Just what I needed! Guess I'm all alone now… without knowing where exactly I am and what is out there, this isn't really an ideal situation for me.

Deciding it was best to look around, I marked the spot that I woke up in with a Pokéball and started exploring the place.

I was in what appeared to be a dense forest, so dense that I could barely see the sky above me. Several forests directly came to mind as I tried to identify this one, like the Ilex Forest and the Petalburg Woods, but this tree… none of those forests had these kind of trees in them… letting curiosity push me forward, I slowly made my way through the thick curtain of trees.

After only a few minutes of walking, the scenery had changed completely. Instead of the trees that littered the area just before, I found myself in an open field. The winds that were moving at moderate-gale-like speeds just a moment before had died down to a fresh breeze, doing nothing more than rustling the grass below me slightly.

"What kind of place is this?!" I grumbled angrily, only to remember that I was completely alone. Letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding, I closed my eyes and was about to sit down on the grass to rest when a voice behind me caused my blood to freeze.

"Nice place, huh?"

* * *

 **-= 3rd Person POV =-**

"Nice place, huh?"

Hearing those words or, more accurately, having those words thrust at him without any preparations for hearing words from somebody else at all caused the brown haired teen to jump away before turning around to face the speaker.

"Long time no see," the girl behind him smirked confidently as she took a step forward. Her black hair, that was tied in a low ponytail, was draped majestically over her right shoulder. She was wearing a white T-shirt and long black trousers, both articles of clothing having smudges on them that hinted at a previous battle. Without any sign of hesitation or worry, the girl closed the distance between the two even more, "It's too bad, though…"

"You're… Clara… right?" Green asked slowly as he eyed the brown eyed girl. Eyes widening slightly at the sudden question, the raven haired girl nodded nonetheless in response. Seeing the girl closing in on him, the brunet found himself taking a few steps back, "Where is this place?!"

"Classified," Clara replied absent-mindedly while combing through her hair with her fingers. Glancing sideways at the brunet, the girl continued, "It's a nice place nonetheless though, so I suggest you take the opportunity to enjoy it to the fullest while you still can."

"Well then, how about you?!" Green snapped, trying to create as much distance between the two as possible. To both his surprise and horror, Green found the bark of a tree digging into his skin after the third step. Trying his hardest not to show any sign of emotion, in addition to making sure that his gaze on the girl was not broken, the brunet added "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Clara sighed, closing her eyes and placing her right hand on her hip in annoyance. A second of silence followed where Green tried to mentally plan his course of action. Before he could formulate a solid plan, however, the girl glared at him with no sign of mercy, "I've been given a mission and I will complete it no matter what. Not like you pose much of a problem to me in your current state. This shouldn't take too long."

"Is that a fact?" Green hissed angrily, his hands already reaching his Pokéballs as he prepared to confront the girl. As the brunet tried to ignore the seed of worry that had been planted in the back of his mind, he continued, "What makes you so confident that that's the case?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Clara chuckled, gently stroking her hair as she clearly took her time to answer the questions that were thrown at her. The raven haired girl was visibly enjoying the look on Green's face as she calmly took yet another step in his direction, "You barely stood a chance against me when you outnumbered me ten-to-one. What hope do you possibly have of beating me when it is just the two of us?"

"Golduck!" Green called out, about to throw the Pokéball containing his Duck Pokémon in his hand and start the battle. When he realized that he couldn't, however, his eyes widened in shock, "What?! What's going on?!"

"My oh my, you really _are_ hopeless…" Clara shook her head at the sight, her lips curved into a small smile, "I mean, more hopeless than I thought you were. Trust me, that already says a lot on how hopeless you are."

Green turned to face her and saw the bell-like Pokémon floating just behind its trainer. The brunet's gaze landed on Bronzong's eyes that were glowing a bright blue light and felt his own eyes widen in horror as realization dawned upon him. Looking at his hand, Green saw that it was indeed enveloped in a similarly colored light as the eyes of the Bronzong. He was trapped!

"Don't you get it yet?" Clara huffed impatiently, annoyance dripping from her voice as she slowly made her way over to the immobilized brunet, "Even the strongest trainers are reduced to useless puppets without the aid of their Pokémon; and that is even assuming that you could put up a fight against me to begin with! You couldn't beat me when you outnumbered me and now… now you're all alone… no one to help you… no one to save you… no one who can prevent me from finishing you off for good!"

"What are you waiting for then?" Green spat as he glared at the girl in front of him. The brunet remained surprisingly calm for someone stuck in the situation that he was in, "If you're so confident that you can finish me then do it! Give me your best shot!"

"Eager to die, are we?" Clara spat venomously before throwing a Pokéball into the air. Out of the blinding white light came the blue and white dragon type that she had used in their previous encounter, and Green knew the instant he saw it that he was in trouble. The phoenix-like Pokémon spread its cotton-like wings and shrieked an earsplitting screech. With a smirk on her face and a finger raised up high into the sky, Clara made her move, "You heard him Altaria! Time to do what we came here for! Use—"

"X-Scissor!" Green shouted, interrupting Clara's command and taking both her and her Pokémon by surprise. Shocked at first, Clara managed to see a blur of red fly her way from the corner of her eye before she jumped to the side. As Clara landed on the ground again, the ground on which she was standing on just moments earlier exploded as the red blur made contact with it.

"So you prepared your Pokémon in case of a sneak attack…" Clara muttered, dusting off the debris that had landed on her clothes as Green petted his Scizor, thanking him for a job well done. Frowning slightly, the black haired girl didn't waste any time to come up with a plan of action, "I may have underestimated you a bit but that doesn't mean that you stand a chance against me!"

"Is that so?" Green turned fully towards Clara, his Scizor on his right and the recently released Golduck on his left, "You must be quite delusional if you think that we'll just stand by doing nothing as you attack us! Scizor! Bullet Punch! Golduck! Hydro Pump! Let's go!"

Both Scizor and Golduck readied themselves to attack as soon as the commands were made. Before either of them could initiate the attack, however, they both found themselves locked in place, unable to move even a bit.

"Scizor! Golduck!" Green called out in alarm as soon as he saw the blue light enveloping his Pokémon. The brunet wanted to run to his Pokémon's aid but found himself coated in the same blue light yet again. All three of them were immobilized.

"Lyn isn't the only one who can freeze a target you know, haven't you figured that out yet?" Clara smiled darkly before nodding in her Altaria's direction. Getting the hint, the Pokémon flew in front of her trainer without a second thought, "I don't care how it is done; if I have to kill you then so be it! A mission is a mission and I have to complete it no matter the cost! No matter the way! Altaria! Fire Blast!"

Almost instantly, Clara's Altaria opened her beak and let loose a stream of red-hot flames directed at the immobilized trio. The stream of fire was quick to transform into a star-like form the moment Altaria closed her beak again and, as the intense heat of the flames incinerated the grass below, was well on its way to Green. Still being locked by the Psychic attack from Clara's Bronzong, Green and his Pokémon could do nothing but watch in horror as the flames were coming their way at an alarming rate.

* * *

A thick screen of smoke rose from the explosion that was caused by the collision of the two tremendous attacks, separating the two combatants from one another completely. Grass patches all around were charred due to the wildfire that consumed them only moments earlier and multiple craters could be seen at multiple places around the battlefield.

"As expected, you're not half bad!" Sapphire panted with a grin as she wiped off the sweat on her brow. Despite her heavy breathing, slightly torn clothing and the burn marks on her arms and legs, the brunette was smiling, almost as if she was enjoying this. Taking a few seconds to regain her composure, Sapphire stood up straight and dusted off her shorts before turning back to the direction of her opponent, "So are you going to hide behind that smokescreen all day or are you going to fight me?!"

"I'm impressed you survived this long, I'll give you that much," an annoyed voice came from the other end of the smoke as Sapphire grinned at the compliment. The smoke slowly but surely cleared to reveal a blonde haired girl who was a bit taller than Sapphire. The blonde wore a crimson colored vest over a cyan shirt and dark teal pants and, while her clothing wasn't torn like Sapphire's were, a good layer of dirt had found its way on the girl nonetheless.

"Heh, I've faced tougher opponents than you Lyn!" Sapphire taunted once she saw her opponent out in the open again. Feeling more confident than ever, the brunette continued without missing a beat, "You're going to have to do a lot better than that to defeat me!"

"Then I guess I have to stop warming up…" Lyn muttered darkly, snapping her fingers and alerting her Togekiss to fly to her side as her differently colored Gardevoir stayed behind while eyeing their opponents cautiously. Malicious grin on her face, the blonde pointed straight at Sapphire before giving her command almost emotionlessly, "Togekiss… Metronome…"

"Metronome?" Sapphire tilted her head in confusion, an action that was mimicked by both her Blaziken and her Aggron shortly after, "Why Metronome? You don't know what move you're gonna get!"

"Exactly…" Lyn smirked darkly as Togekiss was condensing a huge amount of ice in front of its mouth. Seeing the strength of the attack, the confusion shared by Sapphire and her Pokémon soon turned into worry. As trainer and Pokémon all took a step back, Lyn continued with a malicious look on her face, "Where's the fun in just finishing you off right away with moves we both can see coming light-years away? If I'm going to defeat you then I might as well enjoy myself while doing so! Togekiss! Fire!"

With a loud cry, Togekiss let loose the condensed ball of ice into several beams that made their way to Sapphire at an alarming rate. The brunette barely had any time to react and, when she finally found herself fully conscious of what was going on it was already too late. The attack was only a fraction of a second away from hitting her.

The distinct sound of ice crashing into metal rang through the area like a gunshot seconds before a huge cloud of dust and steam covered Sapphire and her Pokémon. A few moments of complete and total silence followed where both the brunette and her Pokémon remained in the covers of the cloud.

"Perhaps I overdid it… oh well, what's done is done…" Lyn chuckled lightly to herself, twirling some strands of her hair around her index finger with her eyes closed, confident that the fight was won. When she opened her eyes again, however, they widened in shock as she saw that both Sapphire and her Pokémon were all unharmed, "B-But how?! That was Sheer Cold! You should have been done for!"

"It's actually _because_ it was Sheer Cold that I'm still standing," Sapphire responded with a grin, petting her Aggron before focusing her attention on Lyn again, "A trainer like you should be able to tell what happened; unless, of course, you're not as great as you say you are!"

"Why you little…" Lyn hissed furiously through gritted teeth, hands balled into fists and her fingernails digging slightly into the skin of her palm. Her dark green eyes landed on Sapphire's Aggron and they widened almost instantaneously as realization hit her, "So that's why… you lucked out thanks to your Pokémon's ability!"

"Perhaps, but that still means that this battle is still up!" Sapphire shouted enthusiastically before beckoning her Blaziken to move up. Without wasting another second, the Blaze Pokémon made her way swiftly towards Lyn, "Show him what we're made off Toro! Sky Uppercut!"

"Have you forgotten already?" Lyn asked, half amused and half annoyed. Not even needing a command, her Gardevoir glowed in a bright blue light and stopped Toro in her tracks, suspending her in midair, "You're going to have to do a lot better than tha—"

"Earthquake!"

Lyn looked up in time to see Sapphire's Aggron stomp on the ground hard, shaking up the battlefield and making both Lyn and her Gardevoir lose their balance. The loss in concentration allowed Toro to break free from the Psychic attack that held her in place and land on the ground the moment the shaking ceased.

"Why you—!" Lyn muttered angrily but was, once again, interrupted mid-sentence.

"Blaze Kick!"

Toro's right leg caught flame and burned in a bright reddish orange color. Pretending to be aiming for Gardevoir, Toro instead jumped up and rammed her leg into the body of an unsuspecting Togekiss, dealing enough damage to send it flying into a nearby boulder. While Togekiss was still conscious, the power of Toro's attack was clear.

"Enough playing nice!" Lyn shouted in rage, pointing straight at Toro, "Gardevoir! Shadow Ball!"

Lyn's Gardevoir closed her eyes and brought her hands in front of her. Before long, an orb of dark blue energy was formed which grew in size at an alarming rate. When the orb became larger than Gardevoir's head, she opened her eyes and threw it at Toro.

"Toro! Intercept it with Flamethrower!" Sapphire commanded hastily, having closed the distance between the two trainers in the time that Toro was distracting Lyn and her Pokémon. Turning to her other Pokémon, the brunette made her second command, "Rono! Follow it up with Metal Claw! Go!"

Both Pokémon moved the moment the commands were given, knowing full well that waiting for even a split second could mean the end. Toro opened her mouth wide and let loose an intense stream of fire, directing the inferno at Gardevoir. Toro's flames collided with Gardevoir's Shadow Ball, effectively stopping it in its tracks as both Lyn and her Pokémon were shocked by the strength of the Flamethrower.

Seeing an opening, Rono dove in with his right claw glowing in a bright white light. With a battle cry, he swung it at Gardevoir who, due to being focused on Toro, was caught off guard. Rono's claw made contact with its target, the attack sending the Gardevoir soaring and crashing into the already injured Togekiss. Neither Gardevoir nor Togekiss got back on their feet after that.

"How… How did you get so strong so fast?!" Lyn shouted both in anger and in shock. An explosion caused her attention to be directed toward the source of the sound, only to see Toro standing unharmed.

"It's not fun being on the losing side, is it?" Sapphire taunted, happy to see that her attacks were doing a number on Lyn's Pokémon and even happier to see that her Pokémon were relatively unscathed, "You've lost! Give it up and tell me where the others are!"

Sapphire had expected a struggle, some sort of last-ditch effort to avoid losing. She had expected Lyn to have prepared a way to get away from her. Sapphire had even expected Lyn to have a hidden powerhouse that she purposefully held back in the case of being pushed into a corner. What she _didn't_ expect was for the blonde haired girl to laugh loudly.

"W-What's so funny?" Sapphire demanded instantly, though the undertone of worry in her voice was clearly distinguishable, even to the brunette herself. She braced herself for the reply from the blonde, which only came when a drop of sweat splattered on the ground.

"You are," Lyn replied darkly, eyes fixed on Sapphire's as she spoke. The glint in the blonde's eyes caused the brunette to take an unconscious step back. Not breaking her gaze, Lyn continued in the same dark tone as before, "You're already claiming victory before you got it. You think you've already won, how naïve! You seriously think you can beat me in _that_ mindset?! Well think again!"

Lyn had barely finished talking when Sapphire saw movement in the corner of her eye. Spinning around, she saw that both Lyn's Gardevoir and Togekiss were already up and well and she felt as if her blood had frozen then and there. More than just seeing them up again, the true cause of the brunette's fear were the two orbs that were flying straight at her.

* * *

"So any idea where everybody else is?" the croissant haired boy asked the taller teen beside him as the two of them walked around in the place that neither of them recognized.

The two young trainers found themselves in a savanna-like area, not knowing where they were or where they were going. The only thing that they knew was that they had to keep moving, though the question as to where they were going lingered in the back of their mind.

"I mean—" the boy whose hair resembled the shape of a croissant tried again, only to be interrupted by the the taller teen beside him.

"I get it Emerald!" the amber eyed boy groaned in annoyance, nearly pulling his hair out of his scalp as he yanked at them in an effort to release some of his annoyance, "We've been sent to some place that neither of us recognize, with no signs of life anywhere! We don't know where the others are or… if they are even…"

"Come on now senior Gold!" Emerald chuckled slightly, though the nervousness that the vertically challenged boy felt was clearly conveyed in his trembling voice. Even so, he tried his hardest to remain positive, "Whatever those beams were, they didn't actually hurt or endanger us; they just scattered us somewhere. That means that the others are all fine as well! We just have to find them!"

"You're right," Gold finally admitted, smiling as he let those words truly sink. When he stopped to think about it or, rather, when Emerald reminded him, it made sense. Neither one of them got hurt because of those beams, which means that they only had to worry about finding the others! With revitalized spirits, the amber eyed boy turned to his friend, "Then what are we sitting around here for?! Let's go and find them!"

"But we don't know where to look for them!" Emerald tried to reason, waving at the huge space of nothingness that they were in, "Forget trying to find the others, we don't even know where _we_ are!"

"That is still no reason to waste time here!" Gold countered without a second of hesitation, turning his full attention at his companion, "If we want to achieve something we have to stand up and actively work to get it! Haven't you learned that much from your time as a Pokédex Holder?"

"But—"

"And here I was, sent here to destroy you two…" a new voice cut in, interrupting whatever remark Emerald wanted to throw at Gold and causing both boys to freeze in shock. They both recognized the voice immediately and, while hoping to be mistaken, saw to their horror that they were both right, "At the rate you two were going, you would have destroyed yourself. How pitiful…"

The voice belonged to a man who appeared to be in his mid twenties, wearing a white tank top under a tan leather jacket, dark blue jeans and combat boots, standing a few meters away from the two teenagers. He stood tall beside a quadruped cat-like Pokémon, both the man's jet black hair and his Pokémon's majestic mane waving in the wind. As he removed his aviator shades, Emerald and Gold could see that his cold violet eyes were directed right at the two of them.

"Great, just what we needed!" Emerald huffed sarcastically, throwing his hands up into the air for emphasis as Gold took a more defensive stance beside him, "The sergeant wannabe and his pet kitty cat! Could our day get any better?"

Expecting a remark like that but not being fully prepared for it, Gold's snort quickly turned into roars of laughter. Before long, the amber eyed boy found himself holding on to his stomach as he fought desperately to remain upright.

The insulted man, however, was less than amused by Emerald's comment.

"Sergeant… wannabe…?" he repeated, trembling slightly in rage while doing so. Without warning, he exploded in rage, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, CALLING ME THAT?! MY NAME IS AXRAN LONGWELL AND I RECEIVED THE RANK OF ADMINISTRATOR WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!"

"Wow Emerald, way to make our enemy mad," Gold chuckled with an eye roll, pushing Emerald's shoulder as soon as he regained his composure. However, it was clear that he was enjoying Axran's outburst more than he was letting on to. With a smile, the amber eyed boy began placing several of his Pokéballs on the ground in a straight line, took out his billiard cue and readied himself to fire, "If we die because you made that comment, know that I'm blaming you!"

"It's not like we will be _losing_ to him now is it?" Emerald responded absentmindedly, cracking his shoulders as he readied his own Pokéballs as well, a confident smirk clearly visible not only on his face but on Gold's as well, "We got this!"

"We sure do!" Gold replied, mentally calculating the trajectory of his Pokéballs for his attack as he kept his gaze on Axran to avoid becoming the target of an attack himself, "We faced him before and this time we can beat him!"

"You couldn't defeat any of us when you all ganged up on us!" Axran yelled, reminding the two teenage trainers as to how their previous battles had ended, "What makes you think you even stand a chance against me when it is just the two of you?!"

"It's _three_ of us, actually~" a female voice replied to Axran's question before either Gold or Emerald could open their mouths to respond. A second later, a tall brunette girl landed in between Axran and his opponents, kicking up several loose stalks of grass into the air in the process. Straightening out her red skirt, the brunette grinned, "Hope you don't mind me… dropping in~!"

"Senior Blue!" Gold exclaimed happily, not needing any time to recognize the brunette, beating Emerald to the shout by a millisecond. Both boys were visibly overjoyed to see here.

"Gold! Emerald! Great to see you two in one piece!" Blue grinned, directing her words at the two boys behind her. Once the words had left her lips, however, her cheerful expression made way for a serious one as she focused her next words towards Axran, "If you're fighting those two boys then you're fighting me as well! Let's make this a three on one battle!"

"That is just fine by me!" Axran replied, not even waiting to weigh his options. As he readied himself, the three teenagers saw a raging inferno in the man's violet eyes, "You add one person or you add a hundred to your little group, it doesn't matter! No amount of help can save you now! Your fates have been sealed ever since I was assigned to your destruction!"

"Is that so?" Emerald shot back, about to throw himself into the battle before a fair toned hand blocked his path, preventing the young boy from taking another step. Looking up, Emerald saw that the owner of the hand was giving him a meaningful glance. Understanding the hint, Emerald begrudgingly took a step back and allowed Blue to do her thing.

"If you're so confident in our defeat, you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me right?" Blue asked Axran as she combed her long brown hair with her fingers with her namesake colored eyes closed, seemingly without a care in the world. When the brunette opened her eyes again, however, they were void of the bright light that could normally be seen in them, "Like where exactly are we? Where are our friends? And why did Demetria send us here in the first place?"

Instead of responding with words, Axran's response was to throw his head back and roar with laughter. Hearing the sound of it, Blue's brows furrowed as she knew what was to come. Gold and Emerald, seeing that the tense atmosphere that was lingering on their shoulders only a few seconds ago had lifted, relaxed their posture as they watched Axran continue to laugh.

"He's not going to give us those answers… is he?" Gold commented, despite the answer to the question being blatantly obvious. The amber eyed boy was about to store his collapsible billiard cue again when Blue stopped him, shaking her head and urging him to keep it out.

"That's right; if you beat me then you will continue to walk around aimlessly in a desperate attempt to find those miserable friends of yours," Axran smirked, releasing the bipedal frog-like Pokémon from his confinements in his Pokéball while walking up to the three trainers, his two Pokémon following close behind him. With an eerie and almost maniacal grin on his face, Axran bellowed, "That is, of course, assuming that you three can even survive this battle!"

"Guess we have to do this the hard way…" Blue sighed, enlarging a Pokéball of her own and taking a step forward while doing so. Glancing back at the two boys behind her, she smiled, "Hope you two are ready for a fight because it doesn't seem like we'll get out of here without one!"

* * *

"Sit still already!" the redhead huffed angrily, a medical kit on the ground beside him, a large lump of cotton wads in one hand and a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the other. Silver eyes were focused on the small yet deep cut in the lower arm as the redhead's hands moved swiftly and expertly to tend to the blonde haired girl's wounds, "And that old man Oak called _you_ the healer—"

"Yes, the healer of _Pokémon_! Healing Pokémon and healing humans are two completely different things Silver!" the blonde shot back in response, but winced when the redhead, Silver, pressed the alcohol-soaked cotton wads onto the wound.

"It might help to watch where you're going Yellow…" Silver muttered as he continued to patch up Yellow's arm. It didn't take long after he uttered those words that the redhead stood up with a satisfied smile on his face, "It may not be perfect, but that's the best I can do for now. As long as you're not reckless it should do. Even so, you're going to have to be extra careful as it may open up again if you are forcing yourself."

"Right…" Yellow murmured, rubbing the covered skin gently with her fingers and marveling at the lack of pain it caused her. Looking up, the blonde saw Silver looking around the area with a critical eye, "So… any idea where we are?"

"It's not so much where _we_ are that is bothering me," Silver replied distantly, his eyes scanning the treetops before moving to the clouds above. Seeing how the shadows fell and the gentle breeze blew cause the silver eyed boy to frown slightly, "It's about where the others are."

"I know you're worried about them Silver, and trust me, I am too, but you said it yourself: we don't know where we are and, more importantly, we have no idea what's out there!" Yellow reasoned, hand gently placed on Silver's shoulder as the blonde tried to stop him from venturing off on his own. Taking a deep breath, the blonde tried again to reason with the redhead, "It won't do anyone any good if we get in trouble while trying to find them!"

"Says the girl who has her arm bandaged," Silver snorted in response but visibly eased up nonetheless, judging from his shoulders relaxing and his softened gaze. Taking a deep breath, the redhead broke the silence again, "I'm not as reckless as to blindly jump into battle. Who do you think I am? Gold?"

"Yeah, I shouldn't have assumed as much, sorry Silver," Yellow mumbled softly while trying to avoid Silver's gaze. Unbeknownst to the blonde healer, the red haired trader caught her words and found the corners of his mouth curl up slightly. It took her a few moments to fully process Silver's words and, when the question was formed in her head, Yellow didn't waste any time to make it known to the world, "Where are we going now?"

"We're not going anywhere," Silver replied without looking at the blonde, instead having his gaze focused on his surroundings as if he was expecting something to leap out and attack them. After a few moments of silence, the redhead let out the breath he didn't know he was holding before deciding to add on to his earlier words, "You're hurt. We can't go around as we please if we don't know anything about this place. For all we know, we could be attacked the moment we leave this place. It won't be a good idea to get hurt even more than you already are."

"I… you're right…" Yellow finally admitted, looking at her arm that had been patched up. She _wanted_ to find her friends to make sure that they were all alright but, deep down, she also knew that Silver was right. Hesitantly, as if she took her time to choose her words carefully, she spoke up again, "So… what do we do now?"

"Right now…" Silver began, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the response that he would get once he let those words slip through his lips, "We stay here… you're in no condition to be moving around right now, so take this time to rest up."

"Alright…" Yellow gave in, the rational part of her brain telling her that Silver was right and that she needed to take it easy. She was about to sit down on the grass when a sudden thought hit her, "So if that's the case what do _you_ do? It's not like you to just sit around doing nothing."

"Who said I was sitting around doing nothing?" Silver smirked, turning towards the blonde with a glint in his eyes that hinted at him knowing more than what he was letting on. Something caused Silver's eyes to gaze up towards the skies above once more and, having spotted something, a genuine smile formed on his lips, "I'm waiting… for him."

"Him?" Yellow echoed, not understanding Silver's words in the slightest. It didn't take long for the blonde to catch on as a small black bird landed on Silver's shoulder, clearly exhausted from the long flight it just finished but trying its hardest to remain conscious, "You—"

"Asked Murkrow to fly around and scout the area? Yes," Silver interrupted and finished the blonde's sentence, receiving a silent nod from the blonde in response. After successfully guiding Murkrow onto the back of his wrist, Silver held him out in front of Yellow, "You know what to do. Before you take your time to rest up, that is."

"Yeah…" Yellow muttered softly but confidently. Gently placing her hands on Murkrow's head, both the blonde and the Pokémon closed their eyes as a faint glow emanated from the point where skin touched feather. As the glow remained, Silver just stood there, waiting patiently as he watched Yellow do her thing.

After what could very well have been a few hours of waiting, both Yellow and Silver's Murkrow opened their eyes slowly. While Murkrow began flapping his wings excitedly, Yellow found her body slowly swaying before falling backwards.

"Yellow!" Silver cried out, dashing in. Miraculously enough, he managed to catch said girl before she fell on the ground and helped her to lean against a nearby tree. Once he was sure that the blonde was nestled comfortably, the redhead sighed, "You didn't have to heal Murkrow and you knew that. All you had to do was learn of this place from him."

"I know…" Yellow replied softly, eyes struggling to stay open as she tried to look into Silver's namesake eyes. With a small smile, she continued, "But he was exhausted and did a good job, so he deserved it."

"Thanks," Silver said in Yellow's direction before enlarging a Pokéball and recalling his Murkrow back into it. With another glance in Yellow's direction to ensure that the blonde was resting as comfortably as possible while leaning against rough tree bark, the silver eyed trainer held the Pokéball containing his Murkrow in his hand tightly, "You read his mind right? Anything useful?"

"Yes…" Yellow smiled softly, her eyelids already drooping from exhaustion yet still trying hard to remain conscious as long as possible. Letting out a small sigh, she added with her eyes closed, "More than… enough…"

"That's great," Silver responded, careful as to not wake the already sleeping blonde. First looking at Yellow's sleeping figure before moving his gaze towards the Pokéball containing his Murkrow, the redhead felt the corners of his lips curve up slightly, "Both of you… get some rest, you deserve it."

Not surprising him in the slightest, Silver's words were met with silence that was only broken by the rustling of the leaves in the zephyr-like breeze. Judging from the sun's position in the skies above, the redhead deduced that it was already well into the afternoon.

Watching the sleeping blonde, Silver found himself unusually calm and at ease as he slowly leaned back onto the tree behind him. With the cool air and the warm rays of the sun both hitting his exposed skin, the redhead decided that rest was something that they could all use a bit of after the events of the day. After letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Silver slowly allowed his eyelids to close and his hand to fall to his side.

Unbeknownst to the sleeping teenagers, a figure was watching them from the safety of the shadows and, as soon as he saw Silver close his eyes, his lips curved into a really crooked grin. Beckoning the two Pokémon that were standing a bit further back, the three slowly made their way through the bushes. Each step that the three took got them closer to the sleeping duo.

* * *

Locked in a small, dark room with only a computer monitor in front of her, Demetria looked up at the ceiling as she quickly found herself lost in her own thoughts. The walls were barren and void of any color or decorations to liven the atmosphere and, more than anything, the dirty blonde haired girl felt like she was trapped in a prison cell.

 _Why was I removed from the front lines? I am more than capable of taking care of them!_

That same thought kept coming back in her mind and, not knowing the answer, Demetria could do nothing but grit her teeth in frustration. Letting out a deep sigh, Demetria focused her gaze on the monitor once more. Depicted on the screen were several differently colored dots with small labels near each of them, some dots were clustered together while others were far apart from all nearby dots on the screen. Allowing her eyes to roam around the screen a bit, the dirty blonde haired girl felt the corners of her lips curl up into a smirk.

Until a loud ringing caused her to fall out of her chair. Muttering curses under her breath and rubbing her throbbing leg, Demetria looked up to see that there was an incoming call on the monitor. Tempted to just ignore it, she was quick to change her mind when she saw the name of the caller.

"Demetria!" the dirty blonde haired girl called out the moment she accepted the call.

 _"It is good to see that you are still on the job Demetria,"_ a deep, distinguishably male voice responded, an undertone of both surprise and amusement evident in his voice. Nails were dug into delicate skin to prevent herself from responding to that as Demetria waited impatiently for the man on the other end to continue, _"How are things going?"_

"Everybody has moved in already and, if everything went according to plan, they are all engaged in combat as we speak, sir!" Demetria recounted, recalling the map that she had been looking at for hours on end. Taking a deep breath, Demetria steeled herself before continuing, "Sir, with all do respect, please allow me to go out there and finish the job! I can handle it!"

 _"You received your orders already Demetria, and for this to succeed you all must play your part perfectly. That includes your removal of the battlefield for this one task,"_ the answer was direct and blunt, but far from being unkind. Demetria was silent for a fraction of a second, processing what she had just heard.

Thanks to this momentary moment where she didn't focus, the girl didn't hear the last words that were thrown her way.

"Sir?" Demetria began hesitantly, both her voice and her body shaking slightly. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, "Sir? Could you please repeat what you said? The last bit… I didn't quite get that."

 _"I said… that we are officially moving on to the next phase,"_ his voice was very slow, almost as if he was breathing out each word individually. That fact alone terrified Demetria. That was, until she heard his voice again, _"I am sure that you were wondering why you were removed from the battlefield, right?"_

"It… might have crossed my mind at some point…" Demetria muttered softly. Miraculously enough, her words were heard on the other end.

 _"Everybody has a distinct role to fulfill, and yours, Demetria, is not out there. The reason why you are where you is is because you are needed there,"_ Demetria raised an eyebrow skeptically, wondering what the true meaning of those words were. She could almost feel her blood freeze when she heard him again, _"Make sure that Chrome Zephyr is ready. It is time."_

"C-Chrome Zephyr?!" Demetria echoed in alarm, hearing a bored 'yes' in confirmation. Hearing his response was all it took for the dirty blonde haired girl to really start panicking, "But why? Why Chrome Zephyr? We can take care of them just fine!"

 _"Demetria…"_ her superior breathed out impatiently, causing a chill to run down said girl's spine as she nervously waited, _"You were specifically chosen for this task because only you can do it. Should I remind you of what happens to those who betray us?"_

"N-No sir…" Demetria gave in reluctantly, still not completely sure what she thought of the situation. Making up her mind, she added as confidently as possible, "It shall be done sir."

 _"Very well… that shall be all. Do not let me down Demetria."_

The line was killed before said girl could even think of a response, much to the girl's relief and annoyance. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Demetria's legs gave way and she fell on the ground, only her hands preventing her from hitting the tiles below.

Demetria lost all sense of time as she remained on the floor, unmoving and deathly silent. The fact that the room lacked both a window and a clock was not helping the dirty blonde haired girl one bit.

"Chrome… Zephyr…" Demetria panted, eyes wide as she looked at the tiles in front of her in horror, not fully grasping what she was seeing and not quite willing to accept what had just happened. Slamming her fist into the ground, she barely noticed the thin streams of crimson droplets that fell from her hand, "Why them?! We don't need to go that far! If only I… I—"

Demetria let out a loud and angry yell, thankful that nobody could hear it. Slow to stand up again thanks to the heavy trembling of her legs, she stumbled to the wall and began punching it in anger repeatedly, not stopping until her knuckles had bled open. When she finally did stop, the dirty blonde haired girl was panting heavily, both hands burning in pain and a very noticeable dent in the wall could be seen.

As Demetria was slowly but surely catching her breath, the girl's eyes landed on the computer's screen once more. Of all the dots that were there, her attention was drawn to one very specific dot. Of all the possible dots her eyes could have focused on, it had to be _that_ one specific dot.

That was all that she needed to make up her mind. Confident that she wouldn't fall when trying to walk, Demetria made her way out of her room and walked down a hallway of many doors. Taking small glances at the doors that she passed on her way, it looked like they were all to rooms that were all as dull as, if not more so, than the room that she had been in.

One of the many doors was slightly ajar, allowing Demetria to peek inside to see the room it led up to. Not surprising her in the slightest, the room was just as dull as the room that she was locked into. She was glad that she wasn't locked in _that_ room as it appeared to be significantly smaller than her own.

Once the thought was fully processed in her mind, the dirty blonde haired girl almost smiled. That was until she remembered where she was going, the memory alone successful in instantly changing the would-be smile into a frown.

Much sooner than she would have liked, Demetria noticed that the hallway had become a lot darker, a clear indication that she was nearing her destination. Suppressing a shudder, she continued walking down the path as she could already see her destination; a door at the very end of the hallway.

Demetria stopped in front of the right door, a part of her still hesitant on opening it. Her hand was right above the doorknob, and all she needed to do was grab it and pull it open. Just when she was about to pull her hand back and walk away, an image shot in front of her mind's eye. More than that, she could hear the screams of terror and almost feel the raging infernos as if she were back in that day.

 _"Do not let me down Demetria."_

Remembering all of that was enough for Demetria to make up her mind. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the doorknob and almost yanked it out of its hinges thanks to the force that she put into her pull. White smoke oozed out of the room and, despite her visual field being greatly obstructed, Demetria could sense the presence of two more people… sense the presence of the two people whom she was here for.

"The time has come," Demetria said as calmly as possible while avoiding the two pair of eyes from inside the room that were fixated upon her. Clearing her throat and collecting all the courage and confidence that she had, she turned to look at both pair of eyes directly for a split second before adding, "We need you two. As of this moment, 'Chrome Zephyr' is a go!"

Demetria waited there, rooted to the spot and unable to move even if she had wanted to, wondering whether or not the two people inside would actually come out. After what could very well have been a few hours of waiting, she saw the two figures inside move and, one by one, the two occupants of the room stepped out into the hallway.

This was it.

This was the point of no return.

* * *

 **And that's all! I hope it lived up to expectations as I, for one, have mixed feelings about this particular chapter… You may have realized it but I will point it out nonetheless: the tone and writing style of this story is shifting. I will probably focus on writing it in the third person as, even though I was more of a first person writer at first, writing the first person passage was a lot harder than I thought it would be…**

 **Having said that, this chapter deserves a special mention for being the longest effective chapter that I have uploaded to date!**

 **As always, reviews are highly appreciated! Until next time! Take care!**


	9. Survival Battle! (Part 2) - Retaliation!

**Apologies for the many delays… anyways, as always, thank you to LightZephyr, Painted Lady Bug, Dante02, Roseflare, FlameUser64 and Zero Slash One for reviewing last chapter!**

 **A huge thank you goes to both LightZephyr and another good friend of mine (who wished to remain anonymous) for everything! You guys are the greatest!**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always… I do not own Pokémon, Clara, Axran or Clyde.**

* * *

"Starlight!" the raven haired male called out, hand held high as he snapped his fingers. His clothes were torn and his body was covered in dirt and bruises, but none of these things seemed to be affecting the young man very much. With an ice-cold glare, the command was made, "Flamethrower! Delta Three!"

Without wasting another second, the majestic dragon Pokémon flew straight up, jade colored flames forming in the corners of her mouth as she prepared her attack. After a second or two of building up the inferno in her mouth, the Flygon let loose the stream at her opponent.

"Gengar!" the other male called out frantically at the sight of the flames coming his way, "Intercept it! Shadow Ball, go!"

Moving as swift as, if not faster than, his opponent did, the Shadow Pokémon condensed a dark orb in front of it before firing it at the incoming attack.

All four combatants watched in tense anticipation as Starlight's flames engulfed Gengar's orb. Before any one of them could process what was going on, the force of both attacks caused a huge explosion that sent everybody flying.

"That Mirza…" Gengar's trainer panted, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm both himself and his beating heart down, crimson colored orbs were quick to scan the battlefield. With a sigh of relief, he saw that his opponent wasn't much better off than he was, "At least… it took us both ou—"

"Don't move!" a familiar voice called out to him, causing the red eyed trainer to freeze up. Only a split second later, logs that were twice the size of the male came raining down around him, impaling the ground and kicking up a bit of dust as each one made contact. Had Red moved even a single step, a log would have successfully flattened him.

"That was… too close…" Red breathed out, looking at the logs with a horrified expression. It was only then that he realized who had stopped him, so he turned to look at his savior, "Why did you do that? Wouldn't it be much easier for you to just let me die?"

"Perhaps… if it were a battle of life or death…" Mirza sighed, getting up and slowly walking over to Red. Despite seeing that his opponent was as battered as he was, Red still took an instinctive step back, "But this isn't that. You know something that I want to know, and you're going to tell me what I want to know."

"You're trying to change Demetria's mind, aren't you?" Red asked suddenly, catching the older male off guard. Brushing off some dirt on his arms, he continued, "You shouldn't waste your time; we both know that she's dedicated her life to their cause. All of them have. Even if you _could_ change her mind, and I told you where our base is, there isn't any guarantee that she's still there."

"She's my sister, I have a responsibility to do this," Mirza responded with a determined glint in his eyes, "Bring me there and we'll see what isn't possible."

"You just won't listen to reason, will you?" Red muttered under his breath. As the two males locked gaze for several seconds, it was Red who made the first move, "Gengar! Slu—"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Mirza sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds as Red felt a pair of cold, sharp claws on his neck.

Red turned his head as much as possible to see that Mirza's Weavile was standing right behind him with a dark smirk plastered on his face, "When did—?"

"You shouldn't move so much, Red…" Mirza calmly stated, not appearing to feel bad at interrupting Red yet again in the slightest. With a silent nod in his Weavile's direction, he added, "Fubuki and I can't guarantee that you will not get hurt if you move around so much."

At this, and realizing that Mirza was telling the truth, Red forced himself to calm down. With a deep breath that soon proved to be futile, Red closed his eyes for a few seconds. This seemed to work as his breathing evened out almost instantly.

When Red opened his eyes again, he was surprised that nothing had happened.

"You clearly have no problems with hurting and killing people, so why not kill me?" Red asked, returning Mirza's silent glare with a glare of his own, "Why are you holding back against me?"

"Why was I holding back?" Mirza repeated, almost not believing that Red just said that. After a second to fully process Red's words, Mirza continued, "I could ask you the exact same question. There were more than enough holes in my battling style earlier that you could have exploited and taken advantage of. I know you're good enough, they named you the _battler_ , after all. The _real_ question… is why you _didn't_ take advantage of it."

A long period of silence followed with neither male breaking either their gaze on the other or the silence. After what could very well have been hours, one of them finally made a move.

"Who's side are you _really_ on?"

* * *

"Lyn isn't the only one who can freeze a target you know, haven't you figured that out yet?" Clara smiled darkly before nodding in her Altaria's direction. Getting the hint, the Pokémon flew in front of her trainer without a second thought, "I don't care how it is done; if I have to kill you then so be it! A mission is a mission and I have to complete it no matter the cost! No matter the way! Altaria! Fire Blast!"

Almost instantly, Clara's Altaria opened her beak and let loose a stream of red-hot flames directed at the immobilized trio. The stream of fire was quick to transform into a star-like form the moment Altaria closed her beak again and, as the intense heat of the flames incinerated the grass below, was well on its way to Green. Still being locked by the Psychic attack from Clara's Bronzong, Green and his Pokémon could do nothing but watch in horror as the flames were coming their way at an alarming rate.

"Tailwind!"

"Muddy Water!"

Two new voices shouted from nearby as a huge wave of a murky brown substance came crashing down on to the star-shaped inferno. The rising steam forced Clara and her Pokémon back, breaking the hold on Green and his Pokémon, as everybody watched in shock as the steam slowly started to clear.

It was Clara who was the first to regain her bearings.

"Who did that?!" the brown eyed ravenette shouted, her eyes darting around to try and find the perpetrator. It wasn't long until she found four shadowed figures behind the curtain of trees, "Show yourself! Altaria! Dragon Pulse!"

Abruptly, Clara's Altaria turned in the direction of the trees before firing a purplish blue stream of energy. The impact of the blast toppled multiple trees and shrouded it with a thick screen of smoke as Clara watched contently.

Green, having recognized the voices, stared wide-eyed at the scene before turning his attention towards his opponent.

"You really like destroying things, don't you?" the brunet asked, massaging his left arm that had been twisted in an unnatural way the whole time he was locked in place by his opponent as he eyed Clara carefully.

"It's not the destruction that I like," Clara replied almost inaudibly, her left hand shooting to her hair before she started to gently comb through it. Green was caught off guard at this, not expecting Clara's demeanor to change so much. The brunet would grow to resent himself for this, however, as the ravenette turned to him with an almost malicious glint in her eyes, "It's that I have to remove all evidence no matter what. Starting… with… you! Flash Cannon!"

As Clara's Bronzong moved up and prepared its attack, another voice could be heard.

"Flamethrower!"

The tides had turned as it was Clara and her Pokémon that had to dodge flames coming their way. Without a loss of grace or footing, the flames were dodged by both Clara and Bronzong.

"She's good; I was sure that would have hit its mark."

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. You stopped her from attacking, that should count for something!"

Looking up, Clara gritted her teeth in annoyance as she saw two more people behind her opponent, both appearing to be ready to jump into the fray.

"You two came just in time," Green smiled, already having enlarged two Poké Balls after recalling both his Scizor and Golduck, "But we shouldn't underestimate her. She's good, and a lot stronger than she made herself out to be in our previous little fight."

"Then again, we weren't ready for her to come out and attack us the way she did last time," Ruby shrugged, standing beside his Swampert while eyeing Clara, "We should be able to take her!"

"Careful, don't get _too_ confident," Crystal warned the younger male as she stood back up straight while stretching her arms. With her Arcanine on her left and her Xatu on her right, she looked as ready for the upcoming battle as she could be, "Senior Green is right, we likely don't know enough about her. In this situation, it is best for us to be careful. What do you think senior Green?"

"You're half right…" Green muttered, pressing the button on the Poké Ball and releasing his Alakazam, "It's true that we should be careful against her, but we can't afford not to give it our all."

"Right!" Crystal responded as Ruby nodded silently in agreement.

"So I will have to deal with three people at once rather than one at a time… not like it would be much of a difference," Clara grunted as she got within hearing distance again. Green, Crystal and Ruby were all shocked as the ravenette smiled brightly, "It's actually better this way as now I can take care of everything in one go. I should actually thank you two for showing up."

"Don't underestimate us!" Ruby shouted angrily before turning to his Swampert, "Zuzu! Muddy Water!"

A split second after the command was made, a stream of mud and water was shot straight at Clara by the Mud Fish Pokémon. It was a surprise to everybody that this attack made the previous attack pale in comparison. Clara, with the assistance of her Altaria, was only narrowly able to dodge the attack.

"So I wasn't the only one who was holding back, it seems… I must say that that attack was impressive," Clara muttered, eyeing the Swampert before her gaze focused on his trainer, "To think that you would willingly hurt your own Pokémon to make its attack stronger… why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby replied to Clara's question with one of his own, his namesake eyes locked on to Clara's as he hid his trembling fists from everyone, "We clearly need all the strength we can to take you out. I just believed that Zuzu could take that attack and be strong enough to finish the job."

"Unfortunately, even the strongest attack is useless if it can't hit its mark… all that power for nothing…" Clara mocked as she closed back in on her opponents, "And here I thought that you would, at the very least, not bore me to death…"

Before either Ruby or Crystal could respond, Green held a warning hand in front both of his juniors. Once certain that he was standing before them, the brunet faced his opponent, "You're incredibly calm, even while knowing that you're outnumbered three to one."

"Even if I'm outnumbered, you still have to actually beat me. Based on all of your earlier displays, I'm pretty confident that I have nothing to worry about," Clara shrugged, ignoring the indignant cries of rage before sighing, "Alright… let me show you how it's done. Altaria! Dragon Pulse! Bronzong! Flash Cannon!"

"Arckee!" Crystal responded, pointing at Clara's pair of Pokémon, "Flamethrower!"

"Porygon-2!" Green called out almost immediately after Crystal, quickly releasing said Pokémon, "Zap Cannon!"

* * *

"W-What's so funny?" Sapphire demanded instantly, though the undertone of worry in her voice was clearly distinguishable, even to the brunette herself. She braced herself for the reply from the blonde, which only came when a drop of sweat splattered on the ground.

"You are," Lyn replied darkly, eyes fixed on Sapphire's as she spoke. The glint in the blonde's eyes caused the brunette to take an unconscious step back. Not breaking her gaze, Lyn continued in the same dark tone as before, "You're already claiming victory before you got it. You think you've already won, how naïve! You seriously think you can beat me in _that_ mindset?! Well think again!"

Lyn had barely finished talking when Sapphire saw movement in the corner of her eye. Spinning around, she saw that both Lyn's Gardevoir and Togekiss were already up and well and she felt as if her blood had frozen then and there. More than just seeing them up again, the true cause of the brunette's fear were the two orbs that were flying straight at her.

The sound of the orbs colliding with something shook the very air as Lyn smiled at a job well done.

"That sure was a waste of my time…" Lyn grumbled in annoyance as she flung her hair back and turned around, "If I knew that that was all that it would take for her to get beaten, I would ha—"

"Who is beaten?" Sapphire's voice came from behind the blonde, visibly startling her. As Lyn turned around, she saw Sapphire hunched over an unconscious Relicanth while the trainer was glaring straight at her, "Thanks to Relo's sacrifice, this battle isn't over!"

"You made your own Pokémon take the hit instead of you?" Lyn asked with an arched eyebrow, her voice clearly conveying just how shocked the blonde was, "How reckless can you trainers be, anyway?"

"It's not like I wanted… Relo to get hurt… like this…" Sapphire hissed through gritted teeth, her Blaziken and Aggron having moved back in front of her to protect their trainer from the possibility of a sudden attack, "But when we fight to protect what's important, we'll fight with everything we got!"

"How naïve of you…" Lyn's response was filled with annoyance as she looked down at her opponent, "There's no way that you can seriously think that this fighting style of yours will work, now is there?"

Sapphire was about to respond with an angry remark of her own, but decided against it when she saw something from the corner of her eye. At this, the brunette lowered her head and allowed her bangs to cover her face.

"Perhaps there are better ways to fight… perhaps there are safer ways to fight…" Sapphire said slowly, almost inaudibly so. A second after she finished, Sapphire looked up with a grin, "But this is _my_ battling style, and I believe in the way that I'm fighting as well as in my Pokémon!"

"You've got spirit, I'll give you that much," Lyn relented as she stroked her Togekiss' hair, "But look around you. You're all alone—"

"What about those people behind you?" Sapphire asked innocently, pointing at something behind the blonde.

"What?!" Lyn cried, turning on her heel to look behind her only to see that it was empty. The blonde, however, realized too late what was going on.

"Flamethrower!"

"Thunderbolt!"

"Magical Leaf!"

Spinning around at the sound of the commands, Lyn's eyes widened in shock as not only Sapphire's but two other trainer's attacks came straight at her.

"Togekiss!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Lyn's Pokémon jumped in front her trainer and took the combined attacks head on. The resulting collision caused a cloud of smoke to rise into the air, removing Lyn and her Pokémon from view.

"What?!" a new voice, one that was distinguishably male, yelled out as he saw what happened. The male's Bouquet Pokémon had a similar look of shock and disbelief as he, too, watched the dust slowly clear, "To think that she called herself a trainer! That's no way to treat your Pokémon!"

"That just means that there is no way that we can afford to let her go!" a second new voice, this time a distinguishably female one, added angrily. As another brunette stepped up to Sapphire's side, her Light Pokémon standing on guard by her side, "What do you say, Sapphire? Can you still fight?"

"'Course I can!" Sapphire grunted, giving the brunette beside her a thumbs up with a wide grin. Lowering her hand, Sapphire was quick to adopt a frown on her features, "That aside, what took you two so long?"

"It's not like that teleporter thing that Demetria used brought us all to the same place," the new girl argued back, causing Sapphire to grin sheepishly. With a sigh that was likely to calm herself down, the brunette added, "Do you think that attack did the trick?"

"I'm going to guess… no."

Before any of the trainers knew what was going on, a rainbow colored beam was fired straight at them from behind the screen of smoke. Jumping away at the very last moment, all of them managed to avoid a direct hit but were pushed back by the resulting shockwave regardless.

Sapphire, being the first to regain her footing, was the first to ask the question that was on everybody's mind.

"What the hell was that?!"

"It appeared to be… a reflected attack off of Mirror Coat," the male panted, wiping off the sweat and debris on his forehead as he frowned, "But I've never heard of a Gardevoir _or_ a Togekiss being able to use that move!"

"No…" Sapphire breathed out, eyes widening as she remembered something important. Both of her friends looked at her before Sapphire continued, "Her Togekiss knows Metronome! She used it in an earlier battle to use Volt Tackle against us and she used Sheer Cold before you two showed up."

"So you're saying that she's relying on something like _that_?" the other brunette exclaimed in shock. Upon receiving the nod of confirmation, she added frantically, "And she got just what she needed twice in a row? Is that even possible?!"

"Luck's a part of everything, this will just make things a bit more interesting," Lyn's voice came from behind the rapidly dissipating cloud of dust. Before long, Lyn and her Pokémon were out in the open again. As the blonde twirled her hair around her index finger, she eyed the two newcomers, "Lyra and Wally… I see…"

"You know who we are?" Wally asked, shocked that she had heard about him and Lyra to the point that she could instantly recognized them.

"I'll tell you this much: we know more about you than you think we do," Lyn responded with a small smirk, the tone of her voice causing a shudder to run down both Wally's and Lyra's spines, "Let's see what we get this time, shall we? Togekiss! Metronome!"

"Metronome again?" Lyra wondered as she heard the command that was made, "You seriously think that you can get what you want out of a random move like that agai—?"

The brunette stopped before she could finish her sentence as Togekiss formed an indigo colored orb in front of its mouth. Before long, the orb was fired as an indigo colored beam at a frozen Lyra.

"Look out!" Sapphire yelled, jumping in and pushing Lyra to the side, only to get blasted by the attack herself.

Despite not hitting her intended target, Lyn wore a cheerful smile, "Yes, I do."

* * *

"If you beat me then you will continue to walk around aimlessly in a desperate attempt to find those miserable friends of yours," Axran smirked, releasing the bipedal frog-like Pokémon from his confinements in his Pokéball while walking up to the three trainers, his two Pokémon following close behind him. With an eerie and almost maniacal grin on his face, Axran bellowed, "That is, of course, assuming that you three can even survive this battle!"

"Guess we have to do this the hard way…" Blue sighed, enlarging a Pokéball of her own and taking a step forward while doing so. Glancing back at the two boys behind her, she smiled, "Hope you two are ready for a fight because it doesn't seem like we'll get out of here without one!"

"With all due respect, senior," Gold began, readjusting his cue pole to get the right trajectory of his Poké Ball.

"We were ready even before you came," Emerald finished with an enthusiastic grin, quickly switching the Poké Ball that he was holding with another one on his belt, "Let's go! Dusclops!"

The vertically challenged boy wasted no time in throwing his Poké Ball into the air in a huge arc, releasing his Pokémon from out of a blinding flash of light. With a small thud as his feet hit the ground, the Beckon Pokémon looked ready to battle.

"The first attack is ours!" Emerald announced as he punched the air in front of him, "Dusclops! Shadow Punch!"

Obediently, and much like his trainer, Dusclops punched the air in front of him. Unlike his trainer, Dusclops fist was seemingly fired at his opponent at incredible speeds.

"You cannot dodge that attack, so stay strong and brace for impact!" Axran commanded, bending down into his knees in preparation of the attack. Both his Luxray and his Toxicroak copied his action, but all three were visibly shocked when the fist changed direction and went for their feet instead. Seeing this, Axran shouted, "Fall back!"

Obeying the command, both of Axran's Pokémon jumped into the air to avoid the attack.

"That's a nice dodge there, sergeant wannabe," Emerald smirked, causing Axran to flinch in anger and, due to this distraction, get hit by sharp shards of destroyed rock. With a grin, Emerald added, "But I wasn't aiming for your feet. I was aiming for the ground the whole time."

"Don't get cocky, kid," Axran gritted his teeth in anger, desperately trying to control his temper as he glared at his opponent, "You haven't won just yet."

"And to think, you're called an _administrator_ …" Emerald trailed off, closing his eyes and shrugging before turning to his Pokémon, "They really _are_ desperate if they give someone like _him_ that rank, don't you think so Dusclops?"

"What do you think you can gain from this?" Axran hissed, hands clenched into fists and trembling in rage Unfortunately for the black haired male, he did not see the widening smirk on Emerald's face, "What possible strategy could talking with your Pokémon on the battlefield be?"

"It's called a 'distraction'," Emerald answered with a smirk, delighted to see the change in Axran's body language, "You didn't pay much attention to your Pokémon for the last five minutes, now have you?"

"Aegan! Uxron!" Axran cried out, turning on his heel to look for his Pokémon. It didn't take long for him to find them, though he was not at all happy to see the state that they were in, "What happened…?"

"Politaro took care of your little kitty cat," Gold replied, enlarging his Poké Ball and recalling the unconscious Frog Pokémon before releasing his starter, "His Perish Song was more than enough to take both of them out of the fight."

"As for your own frog…" Blue trailed off, affectionately petting the head of her Wigglytuff, "Guess he was a bit tired of all the battling and travelling you forced it to do. I'm sure it is having a nice dream right now."

"Why you…" Axran hissed angrily, forced to recall both his unconscious Luxray and sleeping Toxicroak, leaving him completely defenseless against three trainers who still had all of their Pokémon, "Acting all high and mighty just because you got lucky an—"

"It wasn't luck. You underestimated us and miserably misjudged the odds," Blue interrupted, an undertone of anger clearly evident in her voice. Gold and Emerald, while both ready to act at any moment, silently agreed to stay back and let their senior handle it, "You may have overpowered us when there were multiple of you, but it's not so easy to defeat us when you're on your own, now is it? Did you really think we didn't learn from our previous battles with all of you?"

Axran fell silent, standing upright and closing his eyes. The tension in the air dissipated as a fresh breeze blew from the east, rustling the leaves and swaying the grass.

"Tell us where the others are!" Gold demanded after a prolonged period of silence, his patience having worn thin as his mind showed his friends in scenarios he wouldn't even wish happened to his enemies, "We know that you know where they are, so tell us!"

"Also, what is it that you are planning?" Blue added, curious to know the answer to the question that has been bothering her since Mirza first showed up, "Why are you attacking us? Why did _Red_ join you?!"

"As if I have to answer any of those question…" Axran hissed, trying to take a step back only to find something blocking his way. As Axran tried to move in other directions as well, he soon found himself completely trapped, "What's going on?"

"Trying to escape? I would save your energy if I were you," Emerald grinned, pointing at his Mr. Mime that Axran had failed to notice had been released, "My Mr. Mime is able to create solid, invisible walls from the tips of its fingers. You could say that, right now, you're in an invisible cube with nowhere to go."

"To think that something like this actually caught me…" Axran muttered under his breath, barely audible to Blue, Gold or Emerald. Raising the volume of his voice and turning to look at the trio, the black haired male asked, "You really think that I will answer your questions?"

"You should accept reality; you're trapped with nowhere to go," Gold exclaimed throwing out his arms in emphasis, "If you tell us what we want to know, we _might_ consider letting you out."

"You say that we've underestimated you, and I see that you may have a point…" Axran trailed off, his hands moving to a hexagonal object on his belt as his mouth formed a grin, "But don't think that you haven't underestimated us, either!"

Before anybody could do anything, Axran had pressed a button on the device that he was holding and vanished within a few seconds.

It wasn't long before the three Pokédex Holders fell into a long silence, unable to believe that their captive had escaped so easily.

"So… that just happened…" Gold said in a desperate attempt to break the silence, not receiving a response from either of his friends. Sighing, the amber eyed boy turned to his senior, "Now what?"

"We go and look for our friends, of course," Blue replied in a tone that suggested that she couldn't believe that Gold didn't understand that, "If the three of us were teleported to this area, there's a chance the others are nearby as well. Let's go!"

"Right!"

* * *

Watching Yellow's sleeping form, Silver found himself unusually calm and at ease as he slowly leaned back onto the tree behind him. With the cool air and the warm rays of the sun both hitting his exposed skin, the redhead decided that rest was something that they could all use a bit of after the events of the day. After letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Silver slowly allowed his eyelids to close and his hand to fall to his side.

Unbeknownst to the sleeping teenagers, a figure was watching them from the safety of the shadows and, as soon as he saw Silver close his eyes, his lips curved into a really crooked grin. Beckoning the two Pokémon that were standing a bit further back, the three slowly made their way through the bushes. Each step that the three took got them closer to the sleeping duo.

"This 'ere's almost _too_ easy," the figure in the middle whispered softly as his two Pokémon stopped by his side, "Let git 'em and get back hom—"

"Earth Power!"

Before the trainer or either of his Pokémon could process what was happening, the ground under them lit up in a bright yellow light before it erupted in a huge explosion. The force of the attack flung both the trainer and his Pokémon out of the cover of the trees and into the open.

"W-What just 'appened?" the trainer asked in a daze to nobody in particular, picking up his hat that was laying on the ground beside him. The two Pokémon that were by his side, a Ludicolo and a Rapidash, were slowly getting back on their feet as well.

"An Earth Power blew you out in the open just like I wanted it to," a cold voice replied from the grounded trainer's right. Turning his head, he saw that Silver was slowly standing up while brushing off grass and soil off his clothes, "I thought that one of you might attack us while we rested, so I let you get closer. It seems that you're extremely easy to read, after all."

"Very smart of ye, kid," the response came, sounding like a genuine compliment. After readjusting his hat, the stalker faced the redhead again, "Ya ain't half bad, kid. Might act'lly be an interestin' battle."

"You know my name, Clyde, so stop calling me "kid"," Silver huffed angrily, eyeing Yellow from the corner of his eye only to find that she was still sleeping, "Let's just get this over with…"

"Alright if ye say so, Silv'r," Clyde sighed before beckoning over his Pokémon, "Mirza ain't 'ere ter save ye."

"Rhyperior! Earth Power!" Silver commanded, tired of hearing Clyde talking and taking to the offensive.

Silver's Rhyperior responded almost immediately, slamming both of its arms on the ground and lighting up an area of ground under Clyde and his Pokémon.

This time, however, Clyde was ready. The moment he heard the command, he grabbed Ludicolo, jumped on top of Rapidash's back who, in turn, galloped out of the way only a fraction of a second before the ground erupted.

"Don't think da same 'ttack 'll hit me twice!" Clyde taunted, hopping off of his Rapidash with his Ludicolo soon following, "Ludicolo! Hydro Pump!"

Opening its mouth wide, Ludicolo let loose a high pressured stream of water at Silver, who barely even flinched at the sight of the move.

"Rhyperior…" Silver muttered, almost bored, even. When the Drill Pokémon looked in Silver's direction, the redhead nodded silently.

Rhyperior responded with slamming both of his arms on the ground. Only this time, it was an area in front of him and Silver that glowed in a bright light before erupting in power.

This mini eruption caused a natural wall of rocks to form, blocking off the majority of the Hydro Pump attack.

"Now _that_ ain't somethin' ya see ev'ryday!" Clyde laughed as soon as both attacks had stopped and the two trainers could see each other clearly again. As Clyde turned serious, Silver braced himself for a counterattack, "But yer not da only target I can attack!"

"Yellow…!" Silver gasped out, looking up in time to see a flame covered Rapidash galloping straight for said blonde.

"Yer not half bad, I'll admit that much," Clyde began, watching the scene in front of him unfold contently, "But can ye d'feat both me _and_ protect yer sleepin' friend?"

"He doesn't have to!" a new voice shouted, catching both Clyde's and Silver's attention, "Thunderbolt!"

Before either of the battling trainers knew what was happening, a bright flash of yellow light illuminated the space behind Silver, causing both him and Clyde to shield their eyes.

The next second, Rapidash let out a cry of pain as it fell on the ground.

"Rap'dash!" Clyde shouted in panic as he saw his hurt Pokémon, "Who did that?!"

"The plan worked, Silver!" Yellow smiled cheerfully, having taken a few steps to stand beside Silver with Chuchu riding comfortably on her shoulder, "You really knew what you were doing!"

"You're giving me too much credit," Silver responded, though the slight curve of his lips did not go unnoticed by the blonde. Turning serious, Silver continued, "But it's still too early to celebrate."

"That's right! Ye 'urt me Rap'dash!" Clyde cried out, having already recalled his Pokémon and turning to his Ludicolo, "This battle is just getting started!"

"Heh… 'just getting started', you say?" Silver smirked as he put his hands in his pockets, "This battle has already ended the moment you fell for our trap."

Clyde opened his mouth to respond to this claim, but stopped the moment he felt something cold and sharp on his neck and an added weight on his shoulders.

Silver's Sneasel had jumped on top of Clyde and hold him at claw-point; and all of that without Clyde even realizing it.

"Don't think that this is a bluff, Sneasel will do it if you make us do it," Silver said in a voice that made even Yellow take a step away from him. Glaring at the defeated opponent, the redhead continued, "You have some explaining to do."

* * *

"So this is the place?" Mirza asked as he and Red were standing in front of the opening of what appeared to be a cave.

The two males had walked for what felt to be at least an hour before they finally made it to the cave. Beaten and exhausted, both still looked visibly content that they made it to the cave.

The moment that Red fully processed what Mirza had said, he turned to the older male with a deadpan expression.

"Right… just checking," Mirza chuckled sheepishly as he turned back to the mouth of the cave. Taking a deep breath, Mirza added with a serious tone, "Let's get going then!"

"Yeah…" Red mumbled as his gaze was fixated upon the looming darkness in front of him. He looked up in shock when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to a concern-filled face of Mirza's.

"You alright?" Mirza asked as he scanned Red's face, "If you're not feeling like going with me, you don—"

"No!" Red interrupted Mirza, quick to turn defensive once he realized what Mirza was trying to suggest, "This battle is as much mine as it is yours!"

Taken aback slightly at Red's declaration, Mirza soon found himself smiling at the younger male's enthusiasm and determination.

"Then let's go and fight!" Mirza responded before walking into the darkness.

Still outside, Red frowned as he watched Mirza walk into the cave as casually as he did. Before he realized it, the Battler found himself alone at the cave's entrance and, as soon as he realized this, Red broke into a jog to catch up with Mirza.

* * *

"Sir, is something wrong?" Demetria asked as she picked up the call. It had only been slightly over an hour since the previous call, but the dirty blonde haired girl wasted no time in answering.

 _"No… I want to know how it is going on your end."_

"Everything is going fine, sir!" Demetria responded hastily, sighing internally in relief, "Everybody has been in combat for a while now, so we expect to hear from them soon."

 _"Excellent,"_ the person on the other end responded, evidently content in what Demetria was saying, _"And Chrome Zephyr?"_

"Ready and able, sir!" Demetria replied confidently, having personally monitored their progress. Even so, she was still unsure as to whether or not they actually _needed_ Chrome Zephyr. She kept this concern to herself, however, "I made sure that Chrome Zephyr is ready at any time."

 _"Perfect… That will be all for now. Keep up the good work."_

Before Demetria could say anything else, the call was broken, leaving the girl completely alone once again. This did not deter her, as she had a big smile on her face.

"Everything is going according to plan, a bit faster, even," Demetria muttered contently to herself before she noticed something. Her eyes widening slightly as she processed this information, what was previously a smile quickly turned into a grin once she had fully processed it, "Things are about to get a whole lot more interesting…"

* * *

 **And that is a wrap! It's quite a bit shorter than last time, I know, but a lot of things have been going on as of recently, unfortunately. Also, the last two chapters (at around 7800 words of effective chapter), were still longer than what I originally intended a typical chapter to be (about 6000-6500 words of effective chapter). I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time!**


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